Robert Lewandowski deserves to receive a positive reception when he returns to Bayern Munich as a FC Barcelona player, Julian Nagelsmann, coach of the German side, said on Friday.
Lewandowski is set for a swift visit to his former club after Barca were drawn to face the Bundesliga champions in Group C of the UEFA Champions League, alongside Inter Milan and Viktoria Plzen.
The Poland international, who scored his first competitive goals for Barca in a 4-1 thrashing of Real Sociedad last week, left Bayern Munich in somewhat acrimonious fashion.
This was after declaring that something had “died” within him in Germany.
But Nagelsmann believes Bayern Munich’s fans will give Lewandowski a warm welcome on his Allianz Arena return, declaring: “I think there will be applause.
“I never like it when someone gets whistled. I don’t know all of the processes [leading to his exit], the fan in the stadium are even further away.
“There is always a second truth, that things are exaggerated, mis-translated.”
On Bayern Munich’s tough-looking European draw, Nagelsmann added: “It’s a challenging group, but we can and want to come through it.”
dpa/NAN.