Thomas Tuchel was still pumping full of adrenaline in the large media room of the Allianz Arena and found it extremely difficult to get the Champions League knockout. to accept his FC Bayern against Manchester City as deserved and performance-based.
“I’m very happy with the two games. We were completely on an equal footing with the currently best team in Europe,” said the coach on Wednesday evening. The results spoke a different language: 0: 3 in Manchester, 1: 1 in Munich – in total 1: 4.
Nevertheless, Tuchel found: “We had them on the hook!” But Bayern didn’t have the form or class to win big games in the Champions League quarter-finals. After Erling Haaland’s opening goal (57th minute), it was only enough to equalize with a converted hand penalty from captain Joshua Kimmich (83). Haaland missed a penalty for City before the break.
Tuchel mad at the referee
Tuchel criticized the referee harshly. He gave Clement Turpin the “grade six”. The Frenchman had referred him to the stands for complaining. Tuchel, on the other hand, declined to speak of “a class difference” between his team and Pep Guardiola’s team. He spoke of a difference in confidence and form. “We were brutally punished for what we allowed in both games,” said the 49-year-old after losing the second title after the DFB Cup.
They were “not the worse team,” said Kimmich. He addressed what was missing, effectiveness: “We need the leadership to make them wobble.”
Championship as a goal of the season
This time there was no criticism of the team or even allegations from CEO Oliver Kahn. “It was a strong performance from the team overall, especially in the first half. If we take the lead it will be very tight for Manchester City,” said the 53-year-old. He also named the exploitation of chances as a central shortcoming. “The boys threw everything in. It just wasn’t enough now,” Kahn summed up.
He left the Allianz Arena fighting. “We will attack again next season,” he announced. He still thinks the change of coach from Julian Nagelsmann to Tuchel in the middle of the crucial phase of the season was absolutely the right decision. “We are totally convinced that with Thomas Tuchel we will sooner or later be back where we all want to be, namely at the top – also in Europe,” said the CEO.
Kahn and Tuchel focused on the only remaining goal of the season that night. “Now the focus is on what we can still achieve, that’s the German championship,” said Kahn. The series champion leads the Bundesliga with six games to go in the season with two points ahead of Borussia Dortmund. “The championship is anything but in the bag,” warned Tuchel. He made the next task on Saturday at his ex-club FSV Mainz 05 a “character test”.
Kahn expects the eleventh championship title in a row as a consolation. The game against Man City showed him “what the team is capable of. I saw a lot today that we will need in the last Bundesliga games to win this title.” The coming weeks in Munich will also be marked by many debates, about the squad, especially a new centre-forward and also about the actions of the club’s management.
