Former Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches had a homecoming of sorts in his return to the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
The Bavarians were gearing up for a Champions League tilt against SL Benfica — and this time, Sanches was on the other side. The 26-year-old had gotten his start in Benfica before arriving at Bayern at a young age. But after failing to secure a spot in the Bayern rotation, he moved on — to Lille, Paris Saint-Germain, AS Roma, and finally back at his boyhood club in Portugal.
“[It] was nice to be back in Munich,” Sanches said after the game in comments captured via @iMiaSanMia. “This was my home for two seasons, it’s a very nice club, very nice teammates. Back then they welcomed me when I was 19 years old. I really appreciate everything here and it really is a great club.”
Playing on the right side of a three-man midfield in Bruno Lage’s 5-3-2 setup, Sanches put in some hearty challenges to limit Bayern’s scoring opportunities. But the Bavarians ultimately prevailed in a tight 1-0 victory.
“Of course, we had hoped for a different result. We could have done better in attack, and that’s something we need to work on as a team in the upcoming weeks. We can learn a lot from this game and we have to show that in the next matches. Then, we’ll see a better Benfica,” Sanches added (as captured by FCBayern.com)
