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
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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
Forest boss Pereira makes perfect start with Fenerbahce rout in Europa play-offs
- Pereira became Forest’s fourth boss this season after agreeing an 18-month deal to replace the sacked Sean Dyche
- He made an instant impact as the Premier League strugglers powered to an impressive victory in Istanbul
LONDON: Vitor Pereira made a dream start as Nottingham Forest manager with a 3-0 win against Fenerbahce in the first leg of the Europa League play-offs on Thursday.
Pereira became Forest’s fourth boss this season after agreeing an 18-month deal to replace the sacked Sean Dyche on Sunday.
He made an instant impact as the Premier League strugglers powered to an impressive victory in Istanbul thanks to goals from Murillo, Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White
Forest’s dominant display puts them in pole position to finish the job in the second leg at the City Ground on February 26.
If they reach the last 16, Pereira’s side would play Real Betis or Midtjylland.
Perched perilously just three points above the Premier League relegation zone, Forest’s main aim is to avoid dropping into the Championship.
But extending their first European campaign since 1995-96 would be a notable feat for a club starved off continental success since the Brian Clough era.
Pereira had been out of work since being sacked by Wolves in November after a dismal start to this season.
Managing Forest is hardly a guarantee of job security however.
Dyche, axed last week, was in charge for just 114 days.
His departure followed the end of Ange Postecoglou’s 39-day reign in October, which came after Nuno Espirito Santo, sacked in September, lasted just 21 months at the helm.
Pereira has worked with volatile Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis during his spell with Olympiacos.
But to survive at Forest he needs to hit the ground running and victory over his former club Fenerbahce was a step in the right direction.
Pereira made two changes for his debut, bringing Jesus and Murillo into the starting line-up.
Murillo’s return proved an inspired move by Pereira as the Brazilian center-back opened the scoring in the 21st minute.
- Rampant Forest -
Bursting forward with intent, Murillo held off two challenges before lashing a superb low strike past Ederson into the far corner from 25 yards.
Fuming Fenerbahce boss Domenico Tedesco was booked for protesting after his side were denied a penalty when Anderson Talisca’s shot hit Murillo on the arm.
Forest rubbed salt into Tedesco’s wounds in the 43rd minute.
Gibbs-White flicked on Elliot Anderson’s corner at the near post and Jesus pounced to head in from virtually on the goal-line.
Jesus’ seventh goal in the Europa League this season sucked the spirit from Fenerbahce and Gibbs-White notched Forest’s third goal in the 50th minute.
Jesus beat the offside trap and unselfishly squared to Gibbs-White, who slotted home despite losing his footing while shooting.
In Thursday’s other early first leg ties, Santiago Castro’s ninth-minute goal gave Italian side Bologna a 1-0 win at Norway’s Brann.
Zakaria El Ouahdi inspired Genk’s 3-1 win at Dinamo Zagreb.
Bryan Heynen put the Belgian club ahead in the 15th minute and Morocco wing-back El Ouahdi doubled the visitors’ lead six minutes later.
Dion Beljo got one back in the 44th minute, but El Ouahdi bagged his second goal in second-half stoppage-time.
Iago Aspas and Williot Swedberg scored in the first half to fire Celta Vigo to a 2-1 victory at PAOK, who reduced the deficit through Alexander Jeremejeff after the interval.
Later on Thursday, Celtic boss Martin O’Neill will take charge of the 1,000th match of his managerial career when Stuttgart visit Glasgow.
Lille host Red Star Belgrade, Ludogorets Razgrad face Ferencvaros and Panathinaikos meet Viktoria Plzen.
