According to his own statement, the setback from Freiburg does little to dampen coach Thomas Tuchel’s confidence ahead of FC Bayern Munich’s next Champions League hit.
“These ups and downs will accompany us for a very long time,” said the coach after the 2-2 draw at SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga. That’s why it is “not ruled out” that the Munich team will “deliver a top performance over 90 minutes” in the second leg of the premier class round of 16 against Lazio on Tuesday. They will definitely be needed after the 0-1 defeat in the first leg against the Italians, said Tuchel.
Discipline and attention were required against Lazio, said the coach. “And the willingness to see the plan through and bring it to life.” After a weak first half hour, his team succeeded in doing so in Freiburg, and also “for long stretches” in the 2-1 win against RB Leipzig a week earlier. Tuchel said they will now “push themselves positively” in preparation for Rome. “And then we have to deliver.” The coach clearly criticized his team for their performance in the first half hour in Freiburg.
Sports director Christoph Freund also said he was “convinced that we will progress on Tuesday”. Bayern have “shown many times that we have a really good team and quality.”
Bayern coach struggles with the first half hour
Tuchel sharply criticized at least parts of his team’s performance after the 2-2 draw in Freiburg. The 50-year-old said after the game that he had no explanation for the weak first half hour. “We played in the same basic order and asked for the same things,” he explained. “But the difference in body language and doggedness between the first and second half was striking.”
“The difference in the quality of our game, in the positional discipline, in the error rate” was also serious, said Tuchel. Munich could have been happy that they were only 0-1 behind after 30 minutes.
The second half was good, said Tuchel. There was a “completely different life there,” and everyone also acted “much more disciplined in their position.” His team “deservedly turned the game around” in the meantime. On the one hand, the 2-2 draw deprived us of the wages we deserved. “On the other hand, we missed so much in the first half that maybe we can’t wait,” said Tuchel.
Christian Günter (12th minute) and Lucas Höler (87th) scored for Freiburg, Mathys Tel (35th) and Jamal Musiala (75th) for Bayern.
In the table, leaders Bayer Leverkusen can extend their lead over Munich to ten points with a win at 1. FC Köln. “We don’t need to talk about that tonight,” said sports director Christoph Freund about Bayern’s chances of winning another championship. “We have to make sure we bring in more consistency.”
