Robert Lewandowski deserves to receive a positive reception when he returns to Bayern Munich as an 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.

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, mistranslated,” he said.

Lewandowski, who scored his first competitive goals for Barca in a 4-1 thrashing of Real Sociedad last week, left Bayern Munich in a somewhat acrimonious fashion.

This was after declaring that something had “died” within him in Germany.

Meanwhile, 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)