De Ligt shock, embarrassment, BVB
The bitterest Bayern week since Tuchel became coach
By Tobias Nordmann
November 2, 2023, 5:04 a.m
The DFB Cup is turning into a nightmare competition for FC Bayern. Once again the people of Munich are flying out far too early – considering their own standards. In Saarbrücken, Thomas Tuchel’s team experienced a drama that no one would have thought possible.
After the sensation in the DFB Cup, Rüdiger Ziehl, the stunned coach of 1. FC Saarbrücken, said what everyone in the Ludwigsparkstadion could see. “We would have lost this game in extra time,” he admitted. So another plan was needed. It was very good and very simple: just run forward again, hit the ball in the middle and then hope for the football god.
It sneaked into the feet of Marcel Gaus on Wednesday evening at 10:41 p.m. – goal, 2-1, sensation. FC Bayern collapsed against the courageous third division team in the 96th minute. Once again the title will be played without the participation of the record cup winner – and also without the defending champion. RB Leipzig had already said goodbye to Wolfsburg on Tuesday.
The Bayern players Manuel Neuer, Minjae Kim and Kingsley Coman with hanging heads. In the background, the people of Saarbrücken celebrate the 34-year-old winning goal scorer Marcel Gaus.
(Photo: IMAGO/Jan Huebner)
After the exodus of the Bundesliga clubs, only six representatives of the upper house are in the round of 16 – fewer than in 1992/93. 31 seasons ago, only Werder Bremen, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, Karlsruher SC, 1. FC Nürnberg and Bayer Leverkusen from the Belletage were represented in the round of the best 16. The Werkself, currently leaders in the league, faltered for 85 minutes against SV Sandhausen (then 5:2) and won their only national title to date with a 1-0 win in the final against the amateurs of Hertha BSC.
“We weren’t arrogant”
But how could what seemed impossible happen? Not before the game and certainly not in the 96th minute, when Saarbrücken was reeling. But like a David boxer, the Saarlanders did not want to give in to the Goliath’s thunderstorm. FC Bayern pushed, pressed, despaired. On the multi-legged defense, on the outstanding keeper Tim Schreiber and – this is also the truth – on himself. “There are maybe 100 explanations or none. It feels strange,” said Bayern’s completely confounded coach Thomas Tuchel, who was struggling for words the ARD.
Thomas Müller faced the fans after the game. Most of his colleagues disappeared.
(Photo: IMAGO/Jan Huebner)
After Gaus made it 2-1, Tuchel collapsed on the bench and looked at his assistant coach’s tablet while jumping. He no longer knew what happened to him. “We weren’t arrogant and didn’t take it lightly,” said the coach, who has now lost two of his three DFB Cup games with FCB. He added: “It’s hard to explain, it is what it is. We are on the wrong side of the cup sensation. It is very bitter.”
The Munich team actually won their last cup in 2020 under Hansi Flick. This was followed, among other things, by an embarrassment against Holstein Kiel and a surreal slap at Borussia Mönchengladbach (0:5). Last year we were eliminated in the quarter-finals, at home against SC Freiburg. “We wanted to go to Berlin with all our might. We’re super disappointed. We’re on the wrong side of the cup sensations today,” said Tuchel, admitting that they had problems “adapting to the aggressive style of play,” especially in the first half. . From the start, the team from Munich lacked conviction and confidence. But where would it come from? Tuchel had also called up a surprising eleven for reasons of load control: the forgotten Bouna Sarr defended on the right, Frans Krätzig stood alongside Joshua Kimmich, and the jokers Mathys Tel and Thomas Müller swirled up front alongside Leroy Sané.
Great concern for de Ligt
Finally a “Müller game” again. And it should be a really typical one for him. After 16 minutes he took measurements, scored, 1-0 for the favorites, greetings to the Saarbrücken fans and a smiling chat with Tuchel. A signal: everything is fine between us. There has been a lot of discussion recently about the club icon’s role as a joker. Everything was now ready for an evening that Tuchel had hoped for. Protect stars, conserve energy, appear serious. But Bayern couldn’t find the keys to control and scoring goals. Saarbrücken fought back powerfully and played the card of intensity.
After Müller’s goal, Tuchel’s world was still in order.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa)
It was an evening that football romantics couldn’t have imagined more beautifully. A swaying giant, a wild dwarf, that’s the trophy. In times when the gap between the big clubs and the smaller ones is becoming increasingly gigantic, evenings like this are healing. Healing for the souls who can’t do anything with Saudi Arabia, FIFA and the Almighty Gianni Infantino, who see the VAR, which is only used from the round of 16, as a nuisance and an emotion killer.
And so Saarbrücken equalized before the break. Minjae Kim didn’t play cleverly to Talent Krätzig, who lost the ball, counterattack, goal, 1:1. Patrick Sontheimer scored. Tuchel once again criticized his players’ incorrect, risky decision-making this season. But the equalizer wasn’t the first shock for Bayern that evening. After just 22 minutes, Tuchel didn’t want to look anymore when central defender Matthijs de Ligt injured his knee.
The Dutchman got stuck in the grass during a duel and had to go down. For him, Kimmich moved into the back four, which he had once played under star coach Josep Guardiola in the Champions League against Juventus Turin. Never again after that. So Kimmich replaced de Ligt and was not up to speed very late, in the 96th minute. Like the rest of Bayern, he was overwhelmed by the last force of the third division team. Kimmich has a break now. He is serving a suspension in the league.
Did Tuchel gamble away with Kane?
De Ligt is also in danger of missing out at least for the top Bundesliga game at Borussia Dortmund this Saturday. The 24-year-old has suffered an injury to the same knee he suffered before the international break. “The same capsule again, it’s very painful at the moment. We don’t have a diagnosis yet,” said Tuchel, who has had to struggle with personnel problems in defense several times this season and has repeatedly made this an issue, to the displeasure of his bosses , on ARD. During the press conference after the game, he added: “We hope it’s nothing structural.” It will remain a shaky situation for Tuchel until the winter break, then the transfer market will be followed up. He was assured of this at the highest level by honorary president Uli Hoeneß, who had taken the coach to task a few days ago for his bold demands. Other topic.
Because Bayern weren’t really there in the Ludwigsparkstadion, Tuchel upgraded. After an hour he brought on Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry. But not Harry Kane. He wanted to leave that as an option for the extension. Has Tuchel gambled away? Perhaps. But even so there was more power, more speed, more pressure. But the Saarbrücken team held firm, gave everything they had and didn’t spare their bodies. And they did not lose heart because they knew that the extension would be hell for them. The players had cramps and couldn’t go on. The prospect of at least 30 minutes of extra time was not paralyzing; it released more energy for the final sprint and final counterattack. Nobody could believe it. Not even Ziehl, he didn’t care. After the sensation, he gave the order to celebrate: “Otherwise I would be crazy.”
First title gone, possibly another injury and then the grown-up Borussia from Dortmund in front of the chest, without the suspended Kimmich. This week could hardly have been more bitter for FC Bayern. It is likely to be the most bitter since Tuchel has been the coach of the record champions. There have been a few bitter weeks for him during his short tenure as coach of Germany’s biggest club. “The good thing is that we’re playing again, so there’s not much to think about,” said Müller. “Even if it’s a brutal blow for us. If Bayern Munich loses in Saarbrücken, we’ll definitely have done a lot of things wrong.” And once again running after your own demands. What was remarkable: Müller apologized for the team’s performance to the fans who had traveled with them. A harsher judgment can hardly be made.