When Thomas Tuchel and his badly bruised Bayern stars sneaked into the ballroom, Oliver Kahn wavered between being a champion and a miracle in the second leg.
As in the best days as a goalkeeper “Titan”, the CEO preached his legendary “go on, keep going” mentality in the nightly speech. “It doesn’t look so good, but I’ve experienced incredible things in football,” said Kahn after the presumed second title knockout. within a week. “We have a duty to throw in everything we can in this second leg.”
After the 0: 3 mood killer at Manchester City without captain Thomas Müller in the starting eleven, Munich still have the theoretical chance of reaching the semi-finals with a historic premier class day next Wednesday. Far more likely, however, is that the Bayern bosses will have to write off the next trophy a few weeks after the coaching earthquake.
“There’s no point in lamenting anything, somehow seeing everything negatively. We have a great opportunity to become German champions,” Kahn stated in front of embarrassed faces at the board table. “We cannot afford to lose ourselves in thought.”
After the painful defeat against the title favorites trained by Pep Guardiola and led offensively by super striker Erling Haaland, the depressed delegation emphasized positive aspects of their own game. But an even higher bankruptcy would have been possible, because after the 0: 2 by a serious mistake by Dayot Upamecano, the Munich team swam enormously. Overall, there was a lack of nerves of steel and assertiveness. As in 2021 (Paris Saint-Germain) and 2022 (Villarreal FC), the 2020 title winner is likely to be eliminated in the quarter-finals again.
With oysters, beef wellington or quinoa power salad, Müller could
A look at the history of Europe’s top class can give at least a tiny bit of hope. “Completely different things were filmed in the Champions League,” recalled national player Leon Goretzka. FC Barcelona, for example, celebrated sensationally in the season after a 0: 4 against Paris Saint-Germain with a 6: 1 progression to the round of 16. In 2018/19 Liverpool FC were practically out after losing 3-0 to Barcelona, but made it to the final with a 4-0 win.
