Bundesliga
Between Harakiri and premier class: FC Bayern is a mystery
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel and star striker Harry Kane seem perplexed after the draw in Freiburg. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
The recent setback in Freiburg leaves Munich coach Thomas Tuchel at a loss. He demonstrates confidence, but also criticizes harshly. Can the turnaround be achieved against Lazio?
The supposed liberation strike against Leipzig was immediately followed by the next setback Freiburg. And there’s a big threat against Lazio on Tuesday. FC Bayern Munich and its increasingly disillusioned coach Thomas Tuchel remain a mystery.
The coach of the German record champions said that the late loss of a point in the 2-2 (1-1) draw in the Bundesliga away game against SC Freiburg did little to dampen his confidence for the important second leg of the round of 16 against the Romans in the Champions League. At the same time, Tuchel was not sparing with criticism of his team, from whom he seems to be distancing himself more and more.
Miserable start phase in Freiburg
The 50-year-old particularly didn’t like the first half hour in Freiburg. His team played “hara-kiri” at times. “We did things that we had never trained before and we had never talked about,” Tuchel told the streaming service DAZN.
A week after the 2-1 win against RB Leipzig, their first win after three competitive defeats in a row, Bayern had planned a lot – and then missed so much. The players’ body language, their positional play, their error rate – Tuchel criticized the Munich team for almost everything after their performance in the first 30 minutes.
After Christian Günter fell behind (12th minute), Mathys Tel (35th) brought Bayern back with a dream goal, and Jamal Musiala even turned the game around completely after a remarkable solo (75th). Lucas Höler (87th) scored from a throw-in to equalize for Freiburg.
For prestige, title chances and millions against Lazio
Munich’s sports director Christoph Freund “didn’t want to talk” about the chances of winning another championship on Friday evening. They are fading. And that makes the game against Lazio in the premier class even more important. An end would not be a setback, but a huge low blow.
For Bayern it’s about making up for a 0-1 defeat in the first leg. It’s about international prestige, perhaps the biggest remaining title opportunity of the season and a lot of money. Tuchel wants to “push himself and his team positively,” as he said.
It is questionable whether he will succeed. “The difference in body language and doggedness between the first and second half was striking,” said the coach about his team’s performance in Freiburg. He obviously hadn’t managed to get her hot from the start.
Instead, Bayern initially defended in a remarkably airy manner and sometimes offered their opponents huge spaces. The guests improved and created several good chances, especially in the second half. Against Lazio you have to “be there right from the start and apply pressure,” demanded sports director Freund.
There are hints of resignation from Tuchel
Because of the recent slip-up in the league, it is “not impossible” that his players will now deliver the required “top performance over 90 minutes” in the Champions League, said coach Tuchel. “These ups and downs have been with us for a very long time,” he commented on the fluctuations in performance of his team, which has only won one of its last five competitive games.
The coach has apparently gotten used to it. Possibly resigned to that too. There is a sense of resignation in his words.
Bayern and their coach will part ways in the summer anyway. After the record champions’ next sobering appearance, new sports director Max Eberl and his colleagues in the club management will have to ask themselves where the fire for the remaining games and goals will come from until then. In Freiburg, the briefly brightened mood has reached zero again.