The poster is a classic of the Champions League, which, since the arrival of Qatar at the head of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), in 2011, has the air of a “clash of cultures”. Tuesday, February 14, at 9 p.m., PSG and Bayern Munich meet at the Parc des Princes, in Paris, for the round of 16 first leg of the queen competition of European football. On the one hand, Paris Saint-Germain, stamped team of “new rich”, assembled with blows of millions by the funds of a gas State; on the other, FC Bayern Munich, set up as a model of good economic management and holding the aristocracy of the round ball. Two clubs with diametrically opposed strategies… even in the management of the individualities of their workforce.
For a few days, the record champion (record holder of titles in the German league) faces the “Manuel Neuer case”. In two interviews, the doorman and captain of the Bavarian eleven criticized the dismissal, at the end of January, of Toni Tapalovic, the goalkeeper coach and one of his relatives. An outing that the club’s executives had little taste for, they who had already had trouble digesting the interested party’s package for the rest of the season – Neuer broke his leg during a ski vacation in December 2022, a few days after the elimination of Germany in the first round of the World Cup in Qatar.
“The fact that he speaks first in the media displeased us, especially at this pivotal moment of the season”, said Oliver Kahn, chairman of the board of directors of Bayern. Famous for his brilliant shots, the former club goalkeeper delivered the first tackle, recounting having experienced a “similar story” in 2004 when German goalkeeping coach Sepp Maier was sacked. “I was angry, but the collective interests were more important than my personal feelings, I had not spread in the press. » Then, it was the turn of Bayern’s sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic, to go there with his development: “As captain, I would have expected a better attitude from him. » At the club for more than ten years and under contract until 2024, Manuel Neuer could see his armband removed at the end of the season.
At Bayern, “there is no right pass”
The case is a good illustration of how Bavaria works. “It’s not so much that the heads shouldn’t stick out too much, it’s that everyone has to stay in their placeexplains Patrick Guillou, consultant for BeIN Sports. When you are at Bayern, you will always be defended tooth and nail by the club. In return, he expects the same loyalty. When we attack it, when we scratch the veneer, all the leaders step up to defend the institution. There is no free pass, regardless of the superlatives that can be attached to the player. »
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