FC Bayern Munich and Thomas Tuchel are in the semi-finals of the Champions League after winning the quarter-final second leg against Arsenal – although Tuchel is said to have lost the dressing room. After the game, it’s also about his successor.
It’s a photo that wouldn’t have been thought possible in football Germany. A document that one almost doubts. As if an AI had generated it. The digital clock on the wall in the FC Bayern Munich dressing room shows red on black 11:08 p.m., the club sends the picture shortly before midnight via its social media channels with the addition “This Team”, a fist, a heart and the hashtag MiaSanMia.
You can see the FC Bayern team, which had recently reached the semi-finals with a deserved 1-0 win in the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League against Arsenal FC. All players, including the injured Serge Gnabry and the suspended Alphonso Davies, as well as all the assistant coaches cheer into the camera lens. A photo you can hear and feel. Sweat, cheers, relief. And in the center of the picture, in front of his team and staff, a completely uninhibited Thomas Tuchel. Legs apart, arms spread wide apart, hands clenched into fists, mouth wide open. This is what winners look like. At the same time, you ask yourself: Is this what a coach looks like who supposedly lost his dressing room at some point and was in danger of going down in club history as a “lame duck” because his contract was shortened by one year in February, at the end of the season?
After the win against Arsenal, Thomas Tuchel feels liberated
“It means a lot to me. An important step. Semi-finals, the last four,” said Tuchel, suddenly as if relieved. The 50-year-old revealed all his emotions: “Everyone is very happy. I am very satisfied and very, very happy for my staff, the club and the team. The players are proud, they can rightly be proud. That was a fantastic one Team performance, we were lucky enough not to lose against this opponent in both games – a big compliment to the team!”
After the 2-2 draw eight days ago in London, Bayern secured their first place in the semi-finals since the triple triumph in 2020. A strong statement for the champions, dethroned by Bayer Leverkusen, and especially for coach Tuchel, who now, like José Mourinho once did, with three Clubs were able to reach a semi-final in the premier class: with Paris Saint-Germain (2020) and a year later with Chelsea FC, when the English won the pot. And now with Munich thanks to Joshua Kimmich’s header goal from Raphael Guerreiro’s cross.
In the semi-finals, Bayern will now face Real Madrid (April 30th and May 8th), who beat defending champions Manchester City on penalties. The German-German dream final against Borussia Dortmund, advanced to the quarter-finals against Atlético Madrid, is alive. Will there actually be a new edition on June 1st like eleven years ago, when Bayern under Jupp Heynckes defeated BVB with coach Jürgen Klopp 2-1?
“We have two very, very difficult semi-final games against Real ahead of us,” said winning goalscorer Kimmich and added: “Such a German final would of course be a dream.” Tuchel said about the upcoming duel with Bayern’s former coach Carlo Ancelotti: “Winning at City is an incredible exclamation mark. But who else apart from Real, who else apart from Carlo Ancelotti should do it? We are not the top favorite in this constellation. In two It’s starting in weeks, that’s a huge incentive. We’ll do everything we can to finish the season at Wembley.” And not on Whit Saturday in Hoffenheim, on the last Bundesliga matchday.
Sky: Bayern have “advanced discussions” with Nagelsmann
The second leg against Arsenal was also about the coach’s legacy. Because the search for a coach is running parallel to the end of the season. Sky reported “advanced discussions” with ex-coach Julian Nagelsmann, who is expected to receive a three or four-year contract. If he doesn’t decide to continue his job as national coach. The DFB is fighting and wants to tie Nagelsmann until the 2026 World Cup.
It doesn’t matter to Tuchel. By progressing against Arsenal, he has fulfilled or even exceeded the international target despite botched domestic goals. Because this semi-final entry after all the crises and turbulence is a big exclamation mark – grown on Tuchel’s crap. With countless back stories: Humiliated by the superior new champions Bayer Leverkusen, who secured the title in a Bayern-like manner on matchday 29 with a 16-point lead. Disgraced by third division team 1. FC Saarbrücken (1:2) in the second round of the DFB Cup. With the resurrection of the team, which suffered six league defeats (as many as in the last titleless season of 2011/12) and the rehabilitation of the coach, the mood on Säbener Straße has completely changed again. In the semi-final duel with record champions Real Madrid, Bayern can only win as the underdog.
Will Julian Nagelsmann return as Bayern coach?
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No matter how the semi-final ends, Tuchel will leave something behind. It goes as an eye opener. As someone who spoke unpleasant truths with his unfiltered squad analysis. With the realization that an axis was missing or that, from his point of view, the existing (German) axis was no longer competitive at the highest level. The shortcoming of the eye-opener: It moderated some things too radically, too honestly and carelessly. For some in the club, Tuchel was and is the bogeyman, but in retrospect some gentlemen may still be grateful to him for his openness.
Bayern President Herbert Hainer spoke of a “tactical masterpiece” late on Wednesday evening in the catacombs of the Allianz Arena. The hosts had withdrawn a bit from the start, as in the first leg they occasionally left the midfield to the Gunners and lured the English into the transition trap. In order to achieve success through quick counterattacks, and without their speed trio, the injured wingers Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman and the suspended Alphonso Davies. That’s why the veteran, who wasn’t quite as fast anymore, remained Thomas Müller (as in London) completely outside, to defend the left side of the defense against Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, Tuchel provided right-footer Noussair Mazraoui and left-footer Raphael Guerreiro to support him.
Nagelsmann wouldn’t be the first Bayern coach to warm up
The plan worked. If Bayern were too passive at times in the first half, they became more aggressive, more poisonous and more determined after the break. “In the first half it was like a game of chess, nobody wanted to sacrifice any piece and open a gap,” explained Tuchel, “in the second half we encouraged our team to take more risks.” Shortly after the break, Leon Goretzka headed it onto the crossbar, and Guerreiro hit the follow-up shot onto the left outside post. A tactical masterpiece? “I don’t know,” Tuchel downplayed the president’s praise, “it’s all just a vehicle, but the players drive the car, fill it with life. That happened to the absolute limit against Arsenal in both games.”
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A blueprint for Nagelsmann? In a podcast released on Thursday, consultant Volker Struth announced that his client would “make a decision in the next five, six, seven days.” Between the DFB and Bayern. Struth continued: “Without wanting to say who the interested parties are. I can only say, it’s not just Bayern Munich.” The new sports director Max Eberl favors Nagelsmann (36), who worked at Säbener Straße from July 2021 to March 2023, as Tuchel’s successor.
Is that going well? “Only goulash is good warmed up,” as the saying goes. But the examples of former coaches Udo Lattek, Giovanni Trapattoni, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Jupp Heynckes stand in Bayern’s history books for a successful “Here’s to a new thing!” Will the old one be the new coach again? CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said after the triumph over Arsenal: “We’ll see.” A sharp denial sounds different.