Curious injury: Thomas Tuchel “sacrifices” his toe to redeem FC Bayern

A big sigh of relief at FC Bayern: In the second leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League, the Munich team delivered a top performance and sent Lazio Rome out of the competition with a clear defeat. Thomas Müller shines, Thomas Tuchel provides a curious anecdote.

Thomas Tuchel wanted a special atmosphere for this evening. And he got it. The fans in the sold-out Allianz Arena covered the south curve with an impressive choreo. In black and yellow. This may seem surprising at first glance. In this case, black and yellow are not the colors of arch-rival Borussia Dortmund, but rather those of the city of Munich. Conversely, red and white, the colors of the record champions, are those of the city of Dortmund. Not important. Importantly, however, the energy of the curve permeated his team with the final whistle. They had recognized the signs of the times and immediately went for victory in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Lazio Rome; the 0-1 mortgage had to be paid off.

The coach had already clearly forbidden his team to be patient in the game. He had only allowed her patience when it came to inner peace. Don’t take risks too early and leave your positions. It didn’t matter to him when the goals – at least two were needed – would be scored to win. And the players had listened very carefully to his words, at least that was how they understood it on the pitch. The dressing room apparently still follows the coach. This topic was also discussed up and down. The defensive artists from Italy were beaten 3-0 (2-0). With their best performance in weeks, FC Bayern has a chance of winning the premier class title, is once again one of the best eight teams on the continent, for the 22nd time in the history of the competition, and is regaining its footing after very trying days some peace.

“Costd me my right toe”

The day before the game, the coach emphasized how important this victory was to him. How passionate he is about it. This fire caused him great pain on match day. In order to really get his team involved, he himself became very emotional and stepped in front of an object during the speech. “The motivational speech before the game cost me my right toe,” said the limping coach on Prime Video. “I was treated immediately, but I no longer had the courage to get out of the shoe because I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get back in.” That’s why he “sat for 90 minutes” during the game. According to CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, the toe may be broken.

But as painful as the moment was and the next few days will be, the success was a balm. “I was happy to make the sacrifice,” he later joked at the press conference. And Thomas Müller also joked: “There’s always a little waste. Professional sport is always narrow. We just don’t do it with fruit tea.” The good mood is back. But there is also the realization that a (very) good evening doesn’t save a season: “We are happy and know that we played a good game. But we also know that Lazio are not in their best phase. It is “It’s no relief that we’ve reached a whole new level of gaming culture,” Müller warned against too much euphoria. But that’s football. Black on Friday, white again on Tuesday.

Müller is allowed to stay – a good idea

Tuchel can continue. Quite a few media and experts had linked the fate of the coach, who left in the summer, to the outcome of the game. But even before the all-or-nothing game had begun, Max Eberl had to capture the rampant speculation. At least he tried. There is currently no other opinion than continuing the collaboration. This also applies in the event of possible failure. The word of the new sports director does not have to be taken into account. After this evening, which broke the crippling chains of the record champions, everything remains as it is.

And that’s thanks to two unreal heroes. Thanks to two footballers who won’t necessarily be sad if Tuchel leaves the club in the summer. Thomas Müller and Matthijs de Ligt (more later) are their names. Müller was allowed to stay in the first eleven, even if he didn’t gather many arguments for it in the 2-2 draw against SC Freiburg on Friday. Because Leroy Sané was so fit again that he could tolerate the constant pain, one man had to give way. It caught youngster Mathys Tel, who scored a very nice goal in Breisgau and was invigorating with his pace. But Tuchel wanted routine alongside Sané and not wild youth. Everything has actually been said about Müller’s role this season. And yet he always writes new chapters.

Timelessly strong performance from Müller

He mostly came off the bench this season. Thomas Müller games, as Tuchel once called them, were becoming increasingly rare. We still don’t know what exactly a Thomas Müller game is, but it has to be one like the second leg against Lazio. The Munich team was under massive pressure, and the evaluation of the entire season was a dark shadow over that evening. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the long-time boss, had made this clear beforehand. It (the season) would be “bad” if FC Bayern failed in the round of 16. Because you’ve been out of the cup for a long time and you hardly have any realistic chances in the championship. Leaders Bayer Leverkusen are within ten points.

If the club stumbles and threatens to fall to the ground, then icon Müller is called upon. As a savior, as a driver. And of course he accepts this role. The 34-year-old brought a timelessly strong performance to the pitch. He was present in the pressing and constantly motivated his colleagues with encouraging gestures. Not everything worked in the first few minutes, but the burden of the past few weeks was still very heavy. The first to shake them off was Jamal Musiala. After several performances with a heavy pace, the jewel becomes more and more light-footed. However, he was not involved in the leadership. But Müller, in the best old stealth style, had moved through the Romans’ penalty area, was played and lifted the ball to Raphael Guerreiro. He didn’t hit the ball correctly, which brought Harry Kane into the show and his header into the goal – 1-0 (39th).

Müller winks and raises his thumb

The first chain was now broken. And the second came seven minutes later, in injury time of the first half. Müller held his head to a sensational finish from de Ligt. In his 696th game for his club he scored for the 238th time. A second goal would have been possible. But in the 71st minute, keeper Ivan Provedel and the post prevented a dream attack from being completed. “He’s holding it too, wow,” commented the original Bavarian on this scene. Tolerable. Because his 2-0 was the beginning of Munich’s happiness and the end of Roman dreams. Maurizio Sarri said: “Today Bayern Munich performed as Bayern Munich simply does. Even if things don’t go well in the Bundesliga, they are pulling out all the stops in the Champions League.”

Defender de Ligt sneaked free at the far post after a corner from Guerreiro and shot the ball into the box with laser speed. De Ligt, of all people, who wasn’t necessarily one of the coach’s favorite students. He repeatedly shuttled between the bench and the field. Sometimes had to stay out even though the other central defenders were tired or had just recovered. He indicated that he didn’t like that in the catacombs after the top game defeat at Bayer Leverkusen.

“A big moment in our season”

But it was also thanks to a misfire by Ciro Immobile that Bayern were able to get to this point, with Bayern slipping into the locker room with a 2-0 win after a very alert, courageous and focused performance from the start. The veteran striker, once Tuchel’s protégé in Dortmund, missed a huge opportunity just before the score was 1-0. The stadium held its breath for a moment. It certainly wouldn’t have been deserved, but it might have been the nail in the coffin. The Munich team had not seemed particularly robust in recent games after setbacks. But they had earned the luck of the brave that evening. Clear in the positional game, clear in the match plan and confident in his own abilities.

This conviction first trickled back into the bodies of the Bayern players, but with every successful attack the serum called self-confidence ran more fluidly through their veins. And when the alert Kane sank a rebound from Sané’s shot to make it 3-0 after 66 minutes, the last bit of tension disappeared in the blissful stadium. “It’s a perfect evening. It was a big game. That was a big moment in our season. We showed a top performance,” said the goalscorer on Prime Video. Ten minutes after the decision, Müller left the pitch, sat on the bench, blinked one eye and raised his thumb. “It’s not a complete shambles here. We just have problems on the football field,” he said later. The old FC Bayern flashed again this evening after a long time. Thank Müller.