Crisis and dismissal. “A horror movie that never ends”: Bayern Munich is already looking for the coach that all of Europe wants

The results crisis of the Bayern Munich has already claimed its first victim, after the club announced this Wednesday that Thomas Tuchel He will stop being the coach when this season ends. Eliminated from the German Cup by a third division team, eight points behind the leader Bayer Leverkusen with twelve games left in the Bundesliga, forced to overcome the 1-0 that Lazio gave them in Rome in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League… crisis that Bayern is experiencing has condemned a Tuchel who landed at the Bavarian giant just 15 months ago.

The announcement comes three days after lose their third consecutive game in Bochum, which led Tuchel himself to admit that the chances of revalidating the title of German champion are remote. “At the moment it’s not very realistic,” he said. It is true that just two months after replacing Julian Nagelsmann in March 2023, Tuchel conquered the Bundesliga, the eleventh consecutive for the most powerful club in Germany.

Tuchel and the players of his team, in trainingChristina Pahnke – sampics – Corbis Sport

“Friendly” agreement

Bayern Munich could close the season without winning a single title for the first time since 2011. The coach signed contract until June 2025, but both parties decided in a “friendly meeting” to end the agreement a year earlier than planned, the club reported in a statement. ”FC Bayern Munich and coach Thomas Tuchel have decided by mutual agreement to end their relationship, which in principle ended on June 30, 2025, on June 30, 2024. This is the agreement reached as a result of a friendly meeting between CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and Thomas Tuchel,” the entity wrote.

The leader explained that the decision is due to the entity’s desire to “restructure the sports management with a new coach for the 2024-2025 season.” Dreesen blamed “explicitly to the team” to fight to “achieve the highest possible objectives” in both the Champions League and the Bundesliga. Tuchel promised to do “everything possible to achieve maximum success” until the end of the season.

Leroy Sane and Harry Kane, Bayern figures: the team does not workMartin Meissner – AP

Until then, Tuchel has between 13 and 18 games left at Bayernbased on his career in the Champions League, to save a season rated by one of the stars, Leon Goretza, as “a horror movie that never ends”, after last weekend’s defeats. The next match will be on Saturday in Munich against Leipzig (5th), which is playing for a place in the next Champions League. There are two weeks left for the return against Lazio (March 5).

Tuchel has reiterated that the squad trains well but cannot perform at the same level in matches. The coach noted in the statement: “I will continue to do everything possible with my coaching staff to achieve maximum success.”

A long list of candidates

The club, for its part, now has to plan for next season and remodel a squad that no longer seems capable of winning in Germany. But, above all, it must now look for a new coach in a summer that is likely to be hectic. , since numerous European teams do not have a coach for next season (including Barcelona and Liverpool). The Spanish Xabi Alonsoresponsible for Leverkusen’s extraordinary season, would be the dream candidate, but the Basque coach seems to have many more options to replace Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool.

Bayer Leverkusen coach, Xabi Alonso, wanted by BayernHarry Langer – DPA

Alonso is considered one of the most coveted coaches in Europe after putting Leverkusen in first position in the German league in his debut as a coach in the first division. The Spaniard has played for both Bayern and Liverpool and would have a warm welcome in either team, but He has refused to speculate on his future.

The list handled by the German media is very long and varied, and ranges from Zinedine Zidane and Hansi Flick, pasando by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Sebastian Hoeness, Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte. The turbulence of recent months had already claimed victims in the offices. After the Bundesliga title, the top sports managers, Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic, were immediately fired.

With information from AFP and AP

THE NATION

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Bayern Munich Thomas Tuchel

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