The 4:2 triumph over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday brought the series champions past BVB back to the top of the table – the eleventh championship title in a row seems close. After that, Tuchel was happy regarding “a very good start”, but didn’t want to be overly satisfied. The game was “a bit too open and too wild,” emphasized Tuchel. It was “still a lot of room for improvement”.
Bayern go into the remaining eight rounds with a two-point lead. A big mistake by BVB goalie Gregor Kobel (13′) gave them the lead in the Allianz Arena, and the unstoppable captain Thomas Müller (18′, 23′) and Kingsley Coman (50′) also scored. “Everyone was already aware of what was at stake today. A change of coach, a lot of new things, new input,” said Tuchel, whose transfer from Julian Nagelsmann had brought Bayern a lot of criticism. “The will to implement it was 100 percent there, the will to endure it and to suffer when things go wrong, too. That’s the most important thing.”
“This is the place you want to be”
You can’t be happy regarding success for long anyway. “Life at Bayern Munich is such that it continues on Tuesday,” he said of the tight schedule in pursuit of all three possible titles in the Bundesliga, Champions League and Cup. Bayern host SC Freiburg in the DFB Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday. In any case, he himself is happy to be back in the thick of things six months following his dismissal at Chelsea. “There’s no funnier place than a footballer’s locker room and training center. That’s where you want to be. And that’s a great gift. It’s definitely a better life than too much free time.”
Mistakes by Kobel
The fact that he sweetened the evening with three points was not least due to Kobel. He basically pulled the plug on his team following an ambitious start. “Nice shit, you just have to say it like that,” said the 25-year-old, who only shaved a wide pass from Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano as he ran out and ultimately let it pass – slapping his hands over his head, he spared himself the cruel sight . “The decision to come out was a good one. But I didn’t hit the ball. How that happened, I have no idea. It’s clearly on me, of course it hurts.”
Even at 0: 3 he did not cut a good figure. The Swiss, who had just returned from a week-long thigh injury, admitted “two relatively big mistakes”. “There are just shitty days – and today was one of those,” added Kobel. Afterwards, his team had “a kink” in the game. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to help the team,” said Kobel. But his coach Edin Terzic had his back. “We also know that we have been able to rely on Gregor very often this season,” said Terzic. “Of course he’s sorry, but we have to put it in perspective. He’s the reason why we were able to start here today as leaders.”
“Driving home with a dose of anger”
Marco Reus also helped his goalie. “Greg has won so many games for us this season, it’s bitter in a situation like this. In the end, the result doesn’t lie, we deserved to lose,” said the BVB captain. Emre Can with a converted penalty kick (72nd) and Donyell Malen (90th) delighted the BVB supporters at least in the final phase with two goals.
Terzic struggled to regain composure following the low blow. “It’s not enough to have 12 decent minutes in Munich,” he said of the early stages. “It was disappointing that it took us far too long to get back into the game following conceding the first goal.” Nevertheless, not all days are over. “It’s two points behind the leaders, it’s the first defeat in 2023 in the Bundesliga,” emphasized the 40-year-old. “We’re going home with a portion of anger.” This probably also applies to the cup trip on Wednesday to equally disappointed Leipzigers.
