The word expert was no longer on Thomas Tuchel’s lips. Not even in 19 minutes of press conference. The FC Bayern coach did not feel the need to verbally follow up in the dispute with TV experts Lothar Matthäus and Dietmar Hamann after his very controversial furor surrounding Munich’s remarkable 4-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund in the top Bundesliga game.
The 50-year-old wants to leave it up to his top scorer Harry Kane, who is currently unstoppable nationally, and his teammates on the football field. On Wednesday (9 p.m./DAZN) the Munich team can make it into the Champions League round of 16 at high speed against the Turkish champions Galatasaray Istanbul in the Allianz Arena – on the fourth of six matchdays. As Tuchel said, it would be “a huge confirmation” – also of his work.
With a time gap of three days, Tuchel was asked again about the surroundings in Dortmund when he had vented his anger about “a special report”, as he explained on Tuesday, so badly that his team’s outstanding performance was lost in it. “It’s spontaneous and remains authentic,” said Tuchel about his behavior, which triggered contradictory reactions. Tuchel announced that you would always “get a straight answer and an opinion” from him.
Broad support from Bayern leadership
The coach received support from all club committees. From CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen to club president and supervisory board chairman Herbert Hainer to sports director Christoph Freund. “I think it’s good and right that Thomas has made his opinion clear after this criticism has dragged on for weeks,” said Freund in conclusion to the “Bild” newspaper: “FC Bayern has always defended itself when necessary .”
Captain Manuel Neuer, who will be in goal in a Champions League game for the first time since breaking his leg against Galatasaray, said on Tuesday in the Allianz Arena that Dortmund’s big Tuchel punditry show was “not a big issue in the team.” has been. That was probably a bit of a lie. At the beginning of the week, however, the focus was again on the next task in Europe. Apart from the DFB Cup exit, we are “totally on target” this season, said Neuer. And in Dortmund they have now “set a mark”, controlled, concentrated and played without individual mistakes.
Kimmich in the starting line-up
Listen to the experts! “It was our best team performance over 90 minutes,” said Tuchel. This should be continued against Galatasaray. There are actually no personnel changes planned, but there will still be at least one. Tuchel left no doubt that national player Joshua Kimmich, who was suspended in the Bundesliga, would be back in the starting line-up. “Jo is a regular player and a fixture in my team. He will play,” said the coach.
Neuer also campaigned for Kimmich, although Leon Goretzka and Konrad Laimer formed a formidable double-six in Dortmund. “If I can choose a team and Joshua is available, I always want to play with him,” said the captain.
The 37-year-old also reported another exchange with national coach Julian Nagelsmann after the Dortmund game. Accordingly, he will not yet be there for the upcoming international matches against Turkey and Austria. “The fact is that I won’t be traveling to the national team,” said Neuer. There are also medical reasons for this. He can’t expect too much yet. “I’m happy that I can play football again. That has to be said very clearly,” he said, given the severity of the broken leg.
Bayern won the first leg in Istanbul 3-1 two weeks ago with Sven Ulreich in goal with deafening noise after goals from Kingsley Coman, Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala. Tuchel expects an intense game when they meet again quickly. And he is excited about the atmosphere in the sold-out stadium: “We expect great support for Galatasaray. I don’t know if this will be a normal home game for us.”
The expected lineups:
Bayern Munich: Neuer – Laimer, Upamecano, Kim, Davies – Kimmich, Goretzka – Coman, Musiala, Sané – Kane
Galatasaray Istanbul: Muslera – Boey, Nelsson, Sánchez, Bardakci – Torreira, Ayhan – Ziyech, Aktürkoğlu, Zaha – Icardi
Schiedsrichter: Carvalho Nobre (Portugal)
