DUESSELDORF, Germany: When Bayern Munich hired Thomas Tuchel less than three weeks ago, he said he was focused on the chance to win three trophies — the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League.
Now the cup is gone and Bayern will need an improbable comeback to salvage their Champions League campaign after losing 3-0 to Manchester City on Tuesday.
Tuchel was adamant the score wasn’t a true reflection of the game and that Bayern had the momentum just before an error from defender Dayot Upamecano led to City scoring their second goal in the 70th minute.
“(The Bayern players) felt that this does not feel like a 3-0, but it is a 3-0 and of course it’s a huge, huge task now to turn this around. We will not give up. We are realistic but we will not give up. Football is football and a home match in Germany is a home match in Germany,” Tuchel said.
Speaking in German with broadcaster Amazon Prime, Tuchel lavished praise on his team for their commitment and effort and said he had “fallen in love” with the squad. He supported Upamecano, saying “nobody is mad at him” and that he would learn from the game.
Upamecano was subjected to racist abuse on Instagram following the game. Bayern condemned the abuse Wednesday and said they stand with Upamecano.
Tuchel beat Guardiola’s City before with Chelsea in the 2021 Champions League final, but he’s had little time to shape how Bayern play after his surprise appointment last month to replace Julian Nagelsmann as coach.
Just to take the second leg on April 19 to extra time, Bayern would need to do what no team has done since September 2020 and beat City by three goals.
“No big things need to change, but of course nobody was shy to say that you need a bit of luck, you need the momentum in the game if you want to have a result with City,” Tuchel said.
A tenure that started with huge promise after beating Borussia Dortmund 4-2 in the Bundesliga now looks troubled. Since that Dortmund win, Bayern have been eliminated from the German Cup in a 2-1 loss to Freiburg, beaten the same opponent 1-0 in the league and then lost to City. Meanwhile, Nagelsmann is in the position Tuchel was just weeks ago, the sought-after coach linked with vacancies at top European clubs.
Ahead of the second leg, Tuchel and Bayern take on Hoffenheim, a team on the fringes of the Bundesliga relegation fight but also on some of their best form of the season.
Of the three competitions Tuchel had hoped to win, anything less than an 11th consecutive Bundesliga title would be seen as a major failure. Bayern are two points ahead of Dortmund and their final games of the season make a relatively friendly schedule. Of Bayern’s seven remaining domestic opponents, five are currently outside of the top 10 and only one, Leipzig, are in a European place.
Instead of a triple, Tuchel’s Bayern facing UCL exit
https://arab.news/gztsm
Instead of a triple, Tuchel’s Bayern facing UCL exit
- Now the cup is gone and Bayern will need an improbable comeback to salvage their Champions League campaign
- Speaking in German with broadcaster Amazon Prime, Tuchel lavished praise on his team for their commitment and effort and said he had “fallen in love” with the squad
Inter continue Scudetto march after Champions League humbling
- Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto
MILAN, Italy: Inter Milan bounced back from Champions League elimination with Saturday’s 2-0 win over Genoa which continued their march toward the Serie A title.
Federico Dimarco’s brilliant volley just after the half-hour mark and Hakan Calhanoglu’s second-half penalty were enough for Inter to extend their already huge lead over AC Milan at the top of the table to 13 points.
Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto.
Inter, whose fans unloaded a collection of anti-Milan chants in anticipation of the derby, have dropped just two points in 15 league matches and have been a cut above the rest in Italy’s top flight this season.
Their domestic dominance comes in stark contrast to the humiliating manner in which they were dumped out of the Champions League by Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night.
A 5-2 aggregate defeat to the Norwegian minnows cast doubts over not just the quality of Cristian Chivu’s team but of Italian football as a whole.
There was plenty of quality in Dimarco’s opener however, the Italy full-back beautifully placing a first-time finish from a tight angle after exchanging passes with Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Little else happened in a humdrum encounter until Alex Amorim handled a cross from Luis Henrique, whose shot had been tipped onto the post just moments before.
Calhanoglu calmly stroked home the spot-kick on his return to action following niggling muscle problems which have caused him issues since before Christmas, sealing the points for Inter.
Big Rom back
Romelu Lukaku kept Napoli on course for a Champions League spot with a last-gasp winner in the champions’ 2-1 victory over rock-bottom Verona, the Belgium forward’s first goal of the season.
Lukaku forced home Giovane’s cross to snatch the win for third-placed Napoli with the last kick of the game at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Napoli had looked like dropping points in northern Italy when Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro levelled Rasmus Hojlund’s early opener in the 65th minute.
But Lukaku, who only played his first game of the season in late January, gave Napoli a huge win with both Como and Atalanta pushing for a top-four placing.
“I was a dead player before coming here,” said Lukaku to DAZN.
“This season has been difficult, but we’ve got to aim high.”
Napoli’s title defense is all but over as they trail Inter by 14 points after an injury-ravaged season.
Napoli were missing key midfielders Scott McTominay, Kevin De Bruyne and Andre-Frank Anguissa on Saturday, as well as captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Verona, under interim coach Paolo Sammarco following the sacking of Paolo Zanetti earlier this month, are 10 points from safety after a 12th straight match without a win.
Como, who face Inter in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Tuesday, strolled to 3-1 victory over strugglers Lecce to continue their push for a first-ever qualification for European football.
Cesc Fabregas’s team are two points behind Roma, in fourth and Juventus’ opponents on Sunday, and five behind Napoli.
Como are also two points ahead of sixth-placed Juve who face Roma trying to stay in touch with the Champions League places after being eliminated from Europe’s elite club competition by Galatasaray on Wednesday.
