Tuchel scolds, Kahn unimaginative
Bayern are struggling with a mysterious slump
05/20/2023, 11:45 p.m
FC Bayern no longer has the championship in the Bundesliga in their own hands. The Munich team let the game slip out of their hands again after a lead against Leipzig. Coach Thomas Tuchel has no explanation. Bayern boss Oliver Kahn sees a fundamental problem.
FC Bayern collapses again after a lead, and again there is a 1:3 defeat at the end. After the collapse on matchday 29 in Mainz, in which Bayern Munich conceded three goals within 14 minutes, coach Thomas Tuchel once again had to watch his team fail to gain a lead in the Bundesliga. And again he cannot understand how it came about. “I have no explanation how something like this can happen. We’re coming from a good phase. I see the team training, I see the energy, I see the spirit, the quality in training,” said Tuchel after the 1: 3 (1: 0 ) against RB Leipzig on Sky.
This slump is particularly painful because on Sunday rival Borussia Dortmund (5.30 p.m. / DAZN and in the ntv.de live ticker) can overtake FC Augsburg with a win. At the moment, BVB is still one point behind. He will “definitely not” watch the Dortmund game, said Tuchel. “I wouldn’t have watched it either if we had won,” he explained. For Borussia, the first championship since 2012 seems within reach. They host Mainz on the last day of the game, Bayern have to go to 1. FC Köln.
But Tuchel is more concerned with his team anyway. “When you play so far below your own level and the level keeps dropping, you have a hard time winning games,” he said, blaming his team entirely. “What RB play is okay. It’s all about us. We lost this game because of our behavior. If we lose, I want to lose to a better team.”
“I’ve rarely seen anything like this”
Bayern had the game completely under control for the first 30 minutes. In front of 75,000 spectators in the Allianz Arena at home, national player Serge Gnabry made it 1-0 in the 25th minute. But the Munich team withdrew before the break. Leipzig then increased and then struck ice cold after half-time. First it was the suspected Bayern newcomer Konrad Laimer. He scored the equalizer on a counterattack after a Munich corner was blocked (65′). And it got even worse for Bayern: Frenchman Christopher Nkunku converted the penalty due after his compatriot Benjamin Pavard fouled him (76th). Dominik Szoboszlai scored again from the point after a handball from Bayern defender Noussair Mazraoui (85′).
Above all, the defensive behavior of the first goal annoyed Tuchel. “If you cross the street in New York, you walk differently than when you cross the street in Bogenhausen. If you walk without looking, you will be run over,” said Tuchel. Bayern boss Oliver Kahn also stunned the 1:1. “I’ve rarely seen anything like that,” he said in the catacombs of the Allianz Arena. “We’re 1-0 up, take a corner kick and then let’s counter.” After that, the team “didn’t have it in the tank anymore” to fight back.
Kahn sees a fundamental problem in this. It has happened one or two times this season “that you have the feeling that everything collapses when a goal is conceded, a situation becomes difficult or resistance arises”. It was clear that Bayern could get the equalizer against Leipzig or maybe even fall behind. “But I didn’t have the feeling that we still had much to counter after the 1-1 draw,” said Kahn.
Sport director Hasan Salihamidžić also lacked the imagination to explain what was the issue against Leipzig. “The problems are deep, but I can’t say what our problems are,” he said on Sky. “We have guys who have won a lot of titles and have a good mentality. They pull in training but today was very disappointing.” The fact that the team might not win a title is also surprising for him. “I always stand behind the team. Maybe they need a season in which they experience what it’s like not to win a title.” After the controversial expulsion of coach Julian Nagelsmann, Bayern were only eliminated in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup against SC Freiburg and then in the Champions League against Man City.
And yet, at least Kahn continued to be combative after the home defeat against Leipzig. “My faith is always there. I’ll do the devil and give something away here,” said the Bayern boss. “It’s bitter. It’s not in our own hands anymore. But it’s not over yet. It’s over when the referee blows the whistle on our game next Saturday in Cologne,” said CEO Kahn. “First of all, I’m disappointed with what I saw here today.”