Champions League
Bayern’s goal doldrums: does Tuchel rely on Mané’s “debt”?
Bayern striker Sadio Mané should provide goals. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
Goals, goals, goals – FC Bayern needs them against Man City. But in the attack it hooks. Squad planner Salihamidzic is being targeted. What does Tuchel do? He has a striker who knows how to do a miracle.
FC Bayern needs three goals for a football miracle against Manchester City – at least! But the Munich fans and coach Thomas Tuchel ask themselves before the necessary Champions League catch-up race in the second leg of the quarter-finals: Who should shoot them?
Robert Lewandowski is no longer there. And Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting could also fail this Wednesday (9 p.m. / DAZN) with knee joint problems. A comeback of the center forward – at least as a joker – would be a glimmer of hope.
A goal machine like former Dortmund player Erling Haaland, who prepared ManCity 2-0 in the first leg a week ago at the Etihad Stadium and scored the goal to make it 3-0, is only available to Pep Guardiola when he returns to the Allianz Arena.
Bayern not in shape
“Confidence has dropped,” groaned Tuchel after the sobering 1-1 draw against Hoffenheim. When making this statement, the Bayern coach mainly thought of the poor overall performance of his team. But Tuchel also knows about the lack of goals that started after he took office and at the absolute wrong time of the season.
In Tuchel’s loudly acclaimed but perhaps overestimated 4-2 debut against Borussia Dortmund, there were still three attacking goals from Thomas Müller (2) and Kingsley Coman. Since then there has been zero in the top occupied offensive department from Leroy Sané to Jamal Musiala to Serge Gnabry. Only three goals followed in the four games that followed: Dayot Upamecano scored in the DFB Cup defeat against Freiburg (1-2), Matthijs de Ligt in the 1-0 for league points against the sports club (1-0). And Benjamin Pavard was the goal scorer against Hoffenheim. All three are defenders.
The offensive problem occupies coaches and players intensively before the “Mission Impossible” against Manchester City. “It wasn’t as if you had the feeling that the offensive players missed chance after chance,” said Joshua Kimmich with some concern after the Hoffenheim game. Choupo-Moting is extremely missed up front as a passing station and target player (17 goals this season). “We’re missing something in the box,” said Kimmich. Gnabry is not a real nine, neither is Müller, nor is Sadio Mané. Mathys Tel is considered the center forward of the future. Is Tuchel throwing the 17-year-old Frenchman in at the deep end right now?
Squad Debate
Of course, the current lack of goals also means that even before Bayern’s widely expected knockout in Europe against Man City, there is an intensive debate about the squad line-up for the offensive, for which sports director Hasan Salihamidzic is responsible. Even if he resists: “We have players, if they are at a different level and are in top form, we know how many goals they can score.”
As a reminder: The Munich chief squad planner received a lot of praise for his transfers such as that of striker Mané or defensive ace de Ligt after the departure of Torgarant Lewandowski last summer. In the meantime, the board around Oliver Kahn has recognized that improvements need to be made next summer, especially in the center forward position. Many names of real nines are traded, from Tottenham’s Harry Kane to Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani to Naples’ Victor Osimhen.
future music! Tuchel needs immediate solutions in the knockout game against Manchester. And maybe in an extraordinary situation, extraordinary and daring decisions are needed. One of these would be to have Mané in the starting XI after his cabin clinch with teammate Sané and the suspension and fine that followed. At least Tuchel opened up this option: “Sadio showed a reaction. He apologized, the matter is over. It’s all good.”
Mané can comeback
Mané is training for a Man City mission. Problem: Mané, who was injured for a long time, has not yet presented himself in goal form in 2023. The former Bayern captain Stefan Effenberg would still play the Mané card right now, as he said in Sport1’s “double pass”: “I would let him play from the start because he is in debt.” A Munich premier class miracle with Mané and Sané – it would be a Hollywood story.
By the way: Mané was already part of one of the most memorable Champions League comebacks, which also fits Bayern’s starting position on Wednesday. After a 0: 3 at FC Barcelona, the Senegalese made it into the final with Jürgen Klopp’s coach Liverpool 2019 after a magical 4: 0 in the semi-final second leg at Anfield Road.