Thomas Tuchel hugged club patron Uli Hoeneß and then took a seat in the front row at FC Bayern’s annual general meeting. At his premiere at the members’ convention on Sunday in Munich, alongside Honorary President Hoeneß, the coach was also able to take a look at the trophy collection on stage, which was quite meager after FC Bayern’s last single season.
In this season, in which championship and Champions League titles are still possible after the depressing cup exit, Hoeneß and Tuchel would like there to be a little more for record hunters Harry Kane and Co. “The feeling of waking up the next morning after a win cannot be beaten,” said Tuchel, who came into the hall as league leaders after the somewhat wild 4:2 (2:0) against 1. FC Heidenheim. “A good moment for the annual general meeting,” remarked the 50-year-old.
President Herbert Hainer viewed the victory as an “exclamation point”. “Our goal for 2024 is clear: the twelfth German championship in a row,” said Hainer. “Let’s keep making history together.” The chairman of the supervisory board addressed Tuchel with praise: It was right that he contradicted the experts after criticism. The fans of the 316,000 members present acknowledged this with applause.
He scores and scores – Harry Kane “is fun for everyone”
Since Kane and colleagues traveled to their national teams, the injured Jamal Musiala and Matthijs de Ligt as well as the returnee Raphael Guerreiro sat in the front row on Sunday morning alongside the coach from Munich’s luxury squad. As does sports director Christoph Freund. Captain Manuel Neuer was not there.
It’s hard to imagine how big the members would have cheered if goal machine Kane had triumphantly entered the Rudi Sedlmayer Hall on Sunday morning. There was already huge applause when the 30-year-old’s goals were recorded on the video wall.
Record shopping is fun for everyone. Hoeneß also applauded with joy after England’s national team captain’s next goal. Bayern paid over 100 million euros for the services. Money that Hoeneß would never have taken from the legendary fixed-term deposit account for a player years ago. The Kane purchase is not yet included in the good figures presented at the meeting. The record turnover for the last financial year was 882 million euros. “The future can come with such indicators,” exulted Hainer.
Kane paid back his fee goal by goal. The 30-year-old has a dizzying number of goals and, with 17 goals this season, has already scored more times in the Bundesliga than last season’s top scorers. The most expensive purchase in Bayern’s history comes after 16 competitive games, with 21 goals this season.
Extrapolated, the 41-goal record of former world footballer Robert Lewandowski is easily within reach in the Bundesliga. “That’s still a bit far away,” said Kane before happily leaving the arena catacombs with his wife Katie Goodland. “There’s still a long way to go. I started strong and people like to talk about this record,” said the 30-year-old. “There are still a lot of games to be played and I’m not focused on that. I want to get the three points and help my team by scoring goals.”
Bayern beats Heidenheim and looks at Leverkusen
After a few games together, goalkeeper Neuer is as enthusiastic about England’s top scorer as he is about Lewandowski. “Both are very hungry for goals and are also unpredictable in the box,” said Neuer, who loudly started analyzing mistakes after conceding goals. “Both can do almost everything. And it’s difficult to calculate for the defense – and for the goalkeepers too.”
After hat-tricks against Darmstadt and in Dortmund as well as two goals in the early secured group win in the Champions League against Galatasaray Istanbul, Kane also struck several times against the newcomers, who were strong in duels. Tim Kleindienst and Jan-Niklas Beste brought Heidenheim back brilliantly. But comeback man Guerreiro, who now wants to gain a foothold in the Munich team after muscle injuries, and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting made everything clear.
In the long-distance duel with Bayer Leverkusen for first place, the Munich team is already five points ahead of their other pursuers. “The gap to third place is a little bigger. But you’ll only become champion if you’re first. That’s why we’re looking at the first,” said Thomas Müller. Tuchel may not be counting on “the last groove” after the victory. “For me there is only one fight because we are only fighting against ourselves.”
