90 minutes, extra time, penalty shootout: It could be a long night of football in Madrid. Can Tuchel upset Real again and lead Bayern to their dream destination, Wembley?
Thomas Tuchel gathered the Bayern professionals in a circle on the lawn in the modernized Estadio Santiago Bernabéu and energetically encouraged them to fight for the final against Real Madrid.
Neither the coach nor the team around goal guarantor Harry Kane wanted to think about an “Adiós Wembley” during the special semi-final warm-up in Spain’s evening sun. Tuchel gripped the Munich stars emotionally: “Everyone should think back to their childhood. The Champions League title is a footballer’s biggest dream. And the final step has not yet been reached,” said captain Manuel Neuer.
“We are in a tunnel, so you should enjoy an arrival like that,” said Tuchel about his special action. The players should have remembered their childhood when they dreamed of being with such great players. The key message for Wednesday (9 p.m. / DAZN) is: “You don’t play the semi-final to enjoy the semi-final. You play it to get to the final. We’ll play at Wembley tomorrow.”
A failure in the last step towards the dream goal of London in what has so far been a poor football season with many sporting lows and the search for a coach marked by frustrating rejections should be averted with all possible might in the Real Bernabéu fortress with 80,000 hot-blooded fans. “The impression of the stadium is impressive. This stadium has something special. There is hardly a stadium where it is nicer to be able to play,” enthused national goalkeeper Neuer, who has played in the legendary stadium several times. “It will depend on good form on the day and the punch. We are self-confident. If we put the performance on the pitch, we are a candidate for the final,” said Neuer.
Sports director Max Eberl, who has so far been unsuccessful in the search for Tuchel’s successor, described Munich’s success plan like this. “We will try everything to be ‘Bestia Negra’ and win. We want to progress, no matter when, no matter how. The game is a great opportunity to improve on a season that is viewed very critically. That’s what we want to do! “
Neuer, Müller and the good memories of 2012
Premier class veteran Thomas Müller, who, like captain Neuer, was there twelve years ago in the successful penalty thriller and entry into the “final at home” in Madrid against the Royals, formulated the Munich second leg motto as follows: “If you think, okay, “The stadium belongs to Real Madrid, then it is particularly important that the indomitable Bavarians show up there.” And triumph again after 2012. Sports director Christoph Freund expects “a tight box”.
For the 38-year-old Neuer, who was able to parry Real stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká’s shots on penalties in the 2012 semi-final victory before Bastian Schweinsteiger was the last Munich shooter to score, it’s a final before the final – “and we want to win this game “. However, it is – today as then – a gigantic task that requires a magical Bayern night in order to fight for the handle pot in the seventh final on June 1st at Wembley like in 2013 against Borussia Dortmund or like in Lisbon against Paris Saint-Germain in the seventh final to be allowed. “It’s still a fifty-fifty game,” said Tuchel determinedly: “We have 90 minutes, 120 minutes, maybe a penalty shootout.”
Tuchel’s impressive real record
The times when Bayern were feared as the “black beast” in Madrid are of course a long time ago. In the last decade, Real’s Royals around midfield genius Toni Kroos were themselves a Bayern nightmare. Thomas Tuchel is more suitable for the “Bestia Negra”, whose Real record as coach is top with three wins, five draws and one defeat. On the way to winning the title with Chelsea FC three years ago, Tuchel already managed to defeat Real in a semi-final (1:1 and 2:0). Nevertheless, Tuchel said: “The Bernabéu is one of the hardest places to win.”
The excitement around the coaching search, which is characterized by prominent rejections (Alonso, Nagelsmann, Rangnick) and new candidates such as Erik ten Hag from Manchester United, is likely to become even greater due to the semi-final outcome. Crazy: Tuchel, who is no longer wanted, could possibly reach for the pot in his very last game as Bayern coach. A separation from the Champions League winner would be surreal.
De Ligt and Dier: Special mission against Vinícius Junior
But first everything has to be right in the renovated Bernabéu. “We know that we are good at home,” announced Real leader Kroos. Tuchel wants to build on the second half of the first leg, which he won 2-1: “The goal is clear. We have to win!”
There were positive signals at the final training in Munich. Matthijs de Ligt gave the green light after knee problems, as Tuchel reported. After missing the 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena, he will defend in the center alongside Eric Dier. Dier trained with a plaster on his forehead after the laceration he suffered in the 3-1 defeat in Stuttgart. The rustic defensive duo is supposed to stop Vinícius Junior, Real’s two-time first-leg goalscorer.
There was a relaxed atmosphere on the training ground. The offensive forces Jamal Musiala (knee problems) and Leroy Sané (pubic bone pain) can also storm with Torgarant Kane. Konrad Laimer (ankle), who was very strong in the first leg, wants to bite his teeth again. “We need an extraordinary performance. And we have to be fully present in our heads,” warned the Austrian. After all, Kroos, Vinícius and Co. have been the much-admired survivors in the Champions League for years. “We know at Real that they can still strike, even if they don’t seem dangerous,” said Laimer.