A smile often says more than a thousand words. When Joao Cancelo left the pitch in the Bayern Munich jersey after 70 minutes, he wore a brilliant smile for a reason.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Having joined the Bavarians only a day before on loan from Manchester City, the 28-year-old in the German Cup duel against Mainz appeared like he had been around for ages.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Together with the Portuguese, doubts about a sportive crisis seemed blown away in an undisputed 4-0 victory.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Self-confidence and technical skills made the Portuguese international ignore Julian Nagelsmann's orders. Instead of following the Bayern coach's clearly audible instructions to pass the ball back, he delivered a genius cross to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to move Bayern ahead 1-0, reports news agency Xinhua.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We might have to talk about that," the Bayern coach joked, admitting that sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has landed a blow perfectly fitting his demands.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The performance upswing seems to have erased concerns ahead of the delicate last-16 duels against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Meeting Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi has been the dominant topic for Bayern over the past weeks.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After only one training session Cancelo triggered a wave of excitement. Suddenly, the buying option of 70 million euros next summer appears like a bargain to many.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The gift of being multiple tasking as a left- and right-back coming along with high-class midfield skills, is opening doors for tactical variety.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Facing Paris, the Bayern coach might not count on a similar open strategy relying on a back-chain of three and Cancelo operating in midfield pushing attacks. "He is increasing our options significantly," Joshua Kimmich said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A wave of praises followed the widely acclaimed debut.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"He is a perfect match, his crosses are outstanding, incredible," midfielder Jamal Musiala said. A wave of hugs for the new arrival followed this year's best performance.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
For the first time, Nagelsmann didn't use video clips to work through the recent game but left the analyzing entirely to his players.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cancelo met his new squad having developed the determination to improve to get in shape for Paris. The Portuguese modestly spoke of a "good start" promising, there is more to come.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
That is exactly what coach Nagelsmann seems to expect by calling him "world-class", and praising his education "as you can see football basics stood in the centre of his way up."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cancelo met his new squad having developed the determination to improve to get in shape for Paris. The Portuguese modestly spoke of a "good start" promising, there is more to come.<\/p>\r\n\r\n