Tuchel becomes self-confident again
FC Bayern don’t give a damn about the mighty BVB
05/14/2023 09:51 am
FC Bayern beat FC Schalke 04 with a cracking 6:0 – and Dortmund followed up with a furious 5:2 against Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the duel for the title, the Munich team are following a clear route and have two more victories on their list of champions.
Even before the next powerful response from Borussia Dortmund to a Munich victory, the recently heavily criticized sports director Hasan Salihamidžić had specified the route for FC Bayern in the last two stages of the close title fight in the Bundesliga. “We’re only looking at ourselves. We still have two games left and we have to win them. We don’t look left or right. We want to play it to the end,” said Salihamidžić after the leaders’ 6-0 win over FC Schalke 04 on Saturday afternoon.
A few hours later, BVB countered with a 5:2 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach in their own stadium. A week earlier, Dortmund had followed up Munich’s 2-1 win in Bremen with a brilliant 6-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg. Salihamidžić did not comment on BVB after Bayern’s win. Rather, in the final sprint he relied on the recognizable upward trend in his own team under coach Thomas Tuchel: “We gained a lot of self-confidence today. We scored a lot of goals. We did it really well, we went at a good pace. We did the same how to do it.”
Müller and Gnabry lead FC Bayern
Bayern go into the last two games with a one-point lead over BVB and a much better goal difference. Tuchel also continues to focus on his own tasks and largely ignores the appearances in Dortmund. “It’s only the final now! I’m assuming that we need two wins,” he said about the final sprint for the championship. Bayern still receive RB Leipzig and end the season away against 1. FC Köln. BVB still have to play at FC Augsburg and finally play against Mainz 05. On the penultimate day of the game, Bayern can present again against Leipzig. Dortmund is visiting Augsburg on Sundays. By the way, Tuchel sees this as an advantage, as he said recently. It is “more pleasant” to be able to present.
Led by Thomas Müller, who had returned from the starting XI, and the strong bracer Serge Gnabry, FC Bayern had brought the matter against Schalke 04 over the stage in a lively manner. Müller initiated the convincing victory with his first goal since the 4:2 in Tuchel’s first game against BVB six weeks ago (21st minute). Joshua Kimmich with his first penalty and the 25th goal in total in the Bundesliga (29th) and Serge Gnabry with a brace favored by opponent Maya Yoshida (50th/65th) used the weaknesses in Schalke’s defense to score more goals. Substitute Mathys Tel (80′) and then Noussair Mazraoui scored his debut goal in Bayern’s shirt.
“The pressure from you was so great that he had to play”
Bosses Oliver Kahn and Salihamidžić happily high-fived each other in the VIP box when Müller shone as a goalscorer after his most recent reserve role. Müller’s pass came via detours to Leroy Sané, who unselfishly hung up for Müller again. This completed with a placed shot into the goal corner. On the sidelines, Tuchel rejoiced that his two newly promoted stars, of all people, were responsible for the lead. When asked why he relied on Müller from the start after Joker bets, the 49-year-old joked in the Sky interview before kick-off. “The pressure from you became so great that he had to play.” He seriously justified the acceptance by saying that he wanted Müller and Jamal Musiala to play side by side “a bit more offensively”.
So it fit perfectly into Tuchel’s plan that Musiala initiated the 2-0. The 20-year-old fell in the crowd in the Schalke penalty area against Cedric Brunner. After studying the video images, referee Robert Schröder awarded a penalty. Kimmich converted safely against Schalke goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow. All in all, the keeper initially prevented even worse against the dominant Munich team. His injured Munich colleague Manuel Neuer, who made further steps towards his comeback on the training ground this week, had just returned to his seat in the stands when he was able to celebrate 3-0 through Gnabry after the break. The winger scored in the third game in a row and is symbolic of Munich’s recent rise in form. “He worked hard for it,” said Tuchel in praise of the striker, who has scored four times in the last three games.
Müller was unable to fuel the anticipation of the championship party planned for May 28 on the town hall balcony with a second goal (63′). Gnabry, who punished another mistake by Yoshida with his 13th goal of the season, succeeded, as did Joker Tel and Mazraoui.