Bayern Munich: Nagelsmann explains reasons for less playing time for Jamal Musiala

Bayern Munich has been getting praise for managing Jamal Musiala brilliantly in the past 18 months. The youngster enjoyed a breakthrough campaign last year, which eventually attracted interest from various top clubs in Europe. However, Die Roten quickly secured his future by offering him a new deal.

Musiala also enjoyed a terrific start to his second season in Bavaria. However, things have got a bit tricky in the past few weeks as his playing time has dropped. He has been mostly used from the bench in most games across different competitions.

The lack of playing time has created a little bit of unnecessary speculation in the media. Musiala’s lack of playing time has also reportedly raised doubts for Karim Adeyemi about selecting Bavaria as his next destination when he leaves Red Bull Salzburg in summer.

After the win against Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday, Bayern head coach Julian Nagelsmann explained the situation surrounding Musiala. While talking to media (via Sport1), Nagelsmann insisted that the form of other winger has reduced chances for Musiala to get starts, but he remains an important player for the team.

"“The question is not why he isn’t playing, but why someone else is playing. He’s not doing anything worse than weeks ago. The others just got better Leroy, Serge & King are in a very good form. They deserve to play.”“He’ll become one of the outstanding players for Germany and also for Bayern Munich, I’m sure of that. He’ll be one of the best players out there. He has to keep working for that.”"

As of Musiala has got 434 minutes of action across Bundesliga and Champions League this season. In 314 minutes of league actions, Musiala has two goals and three assists to his name. He has looked even better in the final third than last season, but the form of other wingers has been sensational.

Leroy Sane is back to his best under Julian Nagelsmann. The German winger currently has 15 goal contributions to his name across all competitions. Sane had endured a difficult start to the season, but since September, he has been sensational on the left flank.

Meanwhile, Serge Gnabry is also enjoying a good run of form. The German international has scored eight goals across all competitions. Kingsley Coman has also looked sharp ever since coming back from injury, while Thomas Muller continues to deliver goods in the number ten position.

There is a lot of football to be played this season. Musiala should be looking to get closer to 2000 minutes this season to continue his development in Bavaria. Considering the number of games left in the season, the German teenager will definitely end up playing a lot more than what he is doing right now. Die Roten is probably making sure that there is no burnout scenario, and Musiala continues to get better with each passing week.