Saturday evening saw Bayern Munich comfortably overcome Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion, as the Rekordmeister returned to winning ways after a shock 2-1 defeat away at third-tier side Saarbrücken in the DFB-Pokal. However, despite the original high for Thomas Tuchel, the evening would take a sour turn.
Lothar Matthäus and Dietmar Hamann had made negative comments regarding Bayern and Tuchel after the defeat in the Pokal, and this is something that would continue into Saturday evening. As the Bayern head coach began speaking to Matthäus on Sky Germany after the Klassiker victory, the former Bayern midfielder would comment that Tuchel’s side had “bad phases” against Dortmund.
Tuchel would respond: “I don’t want to get into the discussion at all, when I’m through I want to leave, that’s too much for me. You have the job, you can call it whatever you want. Nobody is mad at all. We won 4-0, now you have to do a 180-degree turn, have fun.” The Bayern head coach would then storm off the set.
However, speaking to Magenta Sport, Die Rekordmeister’s president Herbert Hainer offered his support for Tuchel: “I think it’s good that Thomas has now put up a stop sign. I like that he is so defensive. He has enough pressure like all of us at Bayern.”
“Everyone can express their opinion and criticise. Sometimes you had the impression that everything was in ruins and that we were playing against relegation. We haven’t lost a game yet, and we’ve won every game in the Champions League. Yes, we were eliminated from the cup. Not good, but that can happen.”
After reports of friction between Tuchel and the squad, this support for the Bayern head coach has certainly come at the right time. Nevertheless, it is clear to see that Tuchel has the trust of the board; it is now about concentrating on overtaking Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the table for Die Rekordmeister.
GGFN | Will Shopland
