Ten days before the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League between PSG and Bayern, it is difficult to know which club is the most affected. But, if on the Parisian side it looks like a relatively normal state of affairs, it is rarer to see the Bavarian institution sway to this point. Deprived of Sadio Mané, forfeited, for the first European meeting against the Parisians and unable to win a single match since the start of the year, the Munich residents must also manage internal tensions after the dismissal of Toni Tapalovic, the goalkeeper coach.
Thanked after having shared confidential discussions from the staff of Julian Nagelsmann to certain players, including Manuel Neuer, with whom he had had a privileged relationship for almost twelve years, Tapalovic saw his friend step up in the columns of The Athletic and Suddeutsche Zeitung.
“It really touched me, it came out of nowhere. I didn’t understand at all. It really knocked me out. He was not only there for me, but for the whole group of goalkeepers, for the club. He didn’t work eleven and a half years just for me, but for everyone. For me, it was a blow when I was already on the ground. I felt like my heart was being ripped out, it’s the most brutal thing I’ve experienced in my career. And I really saw things. People burst into tears. It’s a big disappointment, ”said the 36-year-old goalkeeper, currently injured.
Oliver Kahn recards Manuel Neuer
Internally, the exit of the mythical Bavarian captain who, according to Picturehad not been authorized to grant this double interview, more than annoyed the leaders, like Oliver Kahn, the chairman of the board of directors of Bayern.
“I faced a similar situation in 2004 as a national player. Our goalkeeping coach, Sepp Maier, felt mistreated by the German Federation and we were separated. I had worked with Sepp for years and we had a friendly and trusting relationship. At the time, I was also disappointed and I resented the federation. But the common goals were in the foreground for me. They were more important to me than my personal feelings, he said. And it is for this reason that I decided at the time not to express myself publicly. Manuel did the opposite. We will talk about it very clearly with him. »