Thomas Tuchel CHRISTOF STACHE / AFP
Contacted on Tuesday evening by the leaders of Bayern Munich, Thomas Tuchel was “completely surprisedby the German club’s interest in offering him the coaching position and replacing Julian Nagelsmann on Friday, he explained on Saturday.
«Believe me or not, I was a little cautious in the first thirty seconds of our first discussion. I didn’t know what we were discussing. It became clear pretty quickly that it was for now“, explained Thomas Tuchel, during a press conference organized at the Allianz Arena, in front of twenty television cameras. “I was completely surprised. The timing was surprising. I absolutely did not expect this on Tuesday, there had been no contact before“, added the technician, winner of the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021.
After a difficult phase in the league – three draws, two defeats and only five wins in the last ten games and the leader’s chair lost to Borussia Dortmund – Bayern have decided to part ways with their coach Julian Nagelsmann, under contract until the summer of 2026, to hire Thomas Tuchel for just over two seasons.
The native of Krumbach in south-west Germany was sacked from Chelsea in September 2022 from his coaching job and has been free ever since. He had moved to Munich since his dismissal. Tuchel arrives on the Bayern bench in the middle of the international break and will not be able to have all his players until Friday, even if his first training with the Munich residents not selected for selection is scheduled for Monday. For his first game of the season on the Bayern bench, Tuchel will face his former club, Borussia Dortmund, on Saturday April 1 (6:30 p.m.) for a “classicdecisive for the awarding of the title this season (Dortmund has 53 points, one more than Bayern). “This is THE match in German football. And it takes on a new importance“, estimated Tuchel.
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