Bundesliga
Classic rarity with explosiveness – Hoeneß: Find alternatives
FC Bayern meets Borussia Dortmund at the weekend: coach Thomas Tuchel. photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
After Alonso’s vote, the German Clásico is one facet richer, and the coaching question in Munich is more exciting than ever. The pressure remains great for BVB coach Terzic. Matthew would find a variant exciting.
Thomas Tuchel laughed loudly as his opinion was expressed by this Alonso’s vote complicated Munich’s coaching situation. “Hahaha – yes, good, next question. I definitely won’t get involved in the successor discussion,” said the grinning Bayern coach. The classic rarity, in which Harry Kane is there but Manuel Neuer is missing due to injury, has, in addition to all the usual explosiveness, a new facet due to the changed situation on the coaching market.
The second half of the season between FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund on Saturday (6.30 p.m./Sky), often hyped as a title fight final, will take place without a league leader for the first time in almost a decade and a half – but with even more coaching discussions. Especially after Xabi Alonso said yes to another year with Bayer Leverkusen. “This is Xabi’s decision,” said Tuchel before the official announcement. “I don’t think it makes sense for me to comment on them.”
Hoeneß: Management has to find alternatives
In the approaching decision-making phase of soon-to-be champion coach Alonso, who has been ensnared from Liverpool to Munich, Honorary President Uli Hoeneß emphasized “the task of sporting management” to “look for and find alternatives”. Is Austria’s national coach Ralf Rangnick one? Roberto De Zerbi from English first division club Brighton & Hove Albion? Or in the end an astonishing and unexpected idea with national coach Julian Nagelsmann, who has already been discussed as the successor to Edin Terzic at Borussia Dortmund?
Despite his contract until 2025, Terzic is under constant pressure and need to explain things in Dortmund. A victory in the German Clásico would also be a personal liberation after four successes in a row. “We can only afford a few slip-ups – regardless of the strength of the opponent,” said the 41-year-old. Terzic is fighting for Champions League qualification with BVB. Leaving this race could also have professional consequences for him. However, the new managing director is to be appointed as the successor to Hans-Joachim Watzke, who has the decisive say on the coaching issue.
Eberl: There is no ultimate day
In April, when Bayern aim to take groundbreaking steps towards a glorious reunion in the final on June 1st in London in the Champions League quarter-finals against FC Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund against Atlético Madrid, the Munich team want to clarify the coaching question. “Without there being the ultimate day. If it takes longer, then it takes a little longer,” said the new sports director Max Eberl on Sky. Hoeneß found the speculation about former Bayern professional Alonso on BR television “too reduced to one person”.
After the premature end of his term in office, which was originally scheduled to run until 2025, Tuchel preferred not to say what makes a good Bayern coach this summer. The 50-year-old preferred to announce that super striker Kane is ready for the duel with his long-time rival after his ankle problems. Captain Manuel Neuer, who left the national team with a torn muscle fiber, has to be represented by Sven Ulreich, as he was at the beginning of the season. Aleksandar Pavlovic, who was recently strong and did not travel to the national team, is also missing against BVB, as are the injured Raphaël Guerreiro and Sacha Boey. Dortmund has to make do without regular goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
“The world is looking to Munich”
The Munich team is ten points behind the leaders from Leverkusen, who were once again pushed by the Alonso signal. Dortmund, fourth in the table and one point ahead of Leipzig, is under pressure in the fight for Champions League qualification. The summit meeting without a chance of reaching the summit cross has enough sporting appeal. “The world is looking to Munich,” says record national player Lothar Matthäus with certainty.
The 63-year-old sees the coaching question as “a lottery.” Wild speculations like that of Zinedine Zidane with the former crowd favorite Franck Ribéry as an assistant were also in the draw. “In my opinion, Ralf Rangnick would be a good candidate. His way of playing football would fit. His teams play attractive football. However, he is a coach who doesn’t like to be talked into,” said Sky expert Matthäus der Deutschen Press agency. The Austrian association recently took a step forward and pointed to the 65-year-old Rangnick’s identification with the national team. In addition, a start in the summer would be challenging due to the European Championships.
“Emotional and charged game”
Eberl basically “did not want to go into individual names,” as the 50-year-old said. In Leverkusen, however, things “fit like a glove”. Eberl is looking forward to “the top game against Borussia Dortmund. Even if it’s supposedly not about the championship.” For former BVB coach Tuchel, that doesn’t change the fact that he expects a thrilling duel: “At the latest when we enter the stadium it will feel pretty normal, as always: an emotional game, a very important game, a charged game and an important game in the Bundesliga with great rivalry and history.”