Sport
Keystone SDA | Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel is annoyed by Uli Hoeness’s statements
Bayern Munich is eager for a big evening against Real Madrid to save the season in the Champions League. Arsenal is said to have been the turning point, Uli Hoeness’ swipe rolling off the team.
The Munich team will play the semi-final first leg at home against the Spanish Champions League record winners in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday evening and want to lay the foundation for reaching the final a week later in Madrid. The final will take place on June 1st at Wembley Stadium in London, and the winner of the duel will face Borussia Dortmund or Paris Saint-Germain. Bayern against Dortmund would be a repeat of 2013, when the final also took place at Wembley.
Based on the season so far, there is little to be said for Bayern. After eleven championship titles in a row, current coach Thomas Tuchel’s team was disenchanted by Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. She was eliminated from the national cup in the second round, repeatedly making unusual mistakes.
Real’s consistency
Real Madrid, on the other hand, is heading confidently towards its 36th championship title with the brilliant new team leader Jude Bellingham. The team of coach Carlo Ancelotti, who was no longer wanted at Bayern in 2017, has only lost two competitive games this season and held its own in the Champions League against last year’s winners Manchester City and RB Leipzig despite the absence of defense chief David Alaba (torn cruciate ligament). In the last three knockout duels against former German opponents Bayern, the Spaniards prevailed with five wins and one draw. “This is about quality, but also about mentality – and Real has both,” says Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich.
In contrast to Bayern, Real also has peace and quiet. It has been clear since February that Thomas Tuchel will have to vacate his position in Munich at the end of the season. Like the ensemble on the pitch, the renowned coach, who led Chelsea to triumph in the Champions League three years ago, repeatedly acted clumsily during his time at Bayern Munich. With questionable statements, he destabilized top performers such as Joshua Kimmich and his expensive defense.
Germany’s top team is also having a complicated season in terms of personnel. Leroy Sané, who started the season brilliantly, has been suffering from pain for months. In order to be fit for action in the Champions League, the designated difference player watched the last four Bundesliga games. Serge Gnabry missed a large part of the season due to injury, but like Sané and Jamal Musiala, who missed the recent 2-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt due to knee irritation, could get back into the action against Real Madrid. Matthijs de Ligt and Konrad Laimer were substituted after 45 and 28 minutes respectively against Frankfurt and, like Dayot Upamecano, are questionable for the first leg on Tuesday.
Bavaria’s new confidence
Despite the difficult run, which culminated in a twelve-point deficit to Leverkusen and included the disgrace against Saarbrücken in the cup, Bayern believes in its chance against Real Madrid and in the Champions League – especially thanks to the semi-final advance against Arsenal with a 1-0 win -Victory in the second leg, probably the best performance of the season. “I think something happened against Arsenal. You could feel that in the dressing room afterwards. This could be the start of something big,” says midfielder Leon Goretzka.
Things have been going better in terms of sport recently. However, the club was unable to calm down because of a controversial statement made by Uli Hoeness about Thomas Tuchel. The honorary president criticized Tuchel’s attitude during a public appearance: “He doesn’t think that he can improve a (Alphonso) Davies, (Aleksandar) Pavlovic or (Jamal) Musiala. If it doesn’t work, according to him, you should buy someone else.”
Words that didn’t go over well with the coach. The statement was “absolutely baseless” and “miles away from reality,” replied Tuchel. And it comes at the wrong time: “There are incredibly important days coming up for all of us. There is no worse time for any sideshows.” For the time being, however, the disturbance from the VIP stand rolled off the team: According to the generally well-informed expert Lothar Matthäus, there is a “cuddling course” in the dressing room and there is a good atmosphere.