02 March 2024 , 11:35
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Thomas Tuchel tore into his Bayern Munich flops following their 2-2 draw with Freiburg on Friday night as the crisis at the Allianz Arena deepens.
Tuchel, formerly of Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund, guided Bayern to the German title after succeeding Julian Nagelsmann last March but has struggled significantly this term. Title rivals Bayer Leverkusen boast a healthy lead at the Bundesliga summit and could extend their advantage further after Bayern's late collapse against Freiburg.
It has already been announced that Tuchel will leave Bayern at the end of the season, with Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso understood to be the club's primary target to replace him. However, clarity over future plans has done little to improve Bayern's fortunes.
Tuchel pulled no punches with his assessment of Bayern's performance post-match, branding aspects of it as "terrible". He fumed: "Terrible half an hour from us. 10-15 minutes in the first half were not more than OK. The second-half was good, with big chances, good spirit, much better discipline with much better quality in our match overall.
"We could have won, but we did not defend the throw-in [for Freiburg’s equaliser] how it needed to be to escape with a win. Overall, we can say it was not enough in the first half to fully deserve the victory."
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After failing to take maximum points against Freiburg, who plundered an 87th minute equaliser, Bayern are running out of time to retain their domestic crown. There are just 10 league games remaining with Bayern needing to overturn a significant deficit to overhaul Leverkusen.
Their hopes of a successful campaign in Europe are also hanging by a thread ahead of this weeks showdown with Lazio. Bayern lost the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie 1-0 and know that only a win will do in Munich on Tuesday night if they are to meet expectations and advance to the latter stages of the competition.
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Tuchel's side have lost further ground in the title race (Helge Prang/GES Sportfoto)It was outlined by German outlet Bild last month that the Bayern dressing room was split over Tuchel. England captain Harry Kane, who moved to Germany in a club-record deal in the summer, was said to be one of the players who were supportive of Tuchel, but he was unpopular with a handful of senior pros.
The same publication claimed earlier this week that Tuchel had addressed the dressing room in a bid to quash any unrest following confirmation of his impending exit. It's alleged Tuchel told his players: "There are no longer discussions every week, everyone knows about it. We can still achieve something, we have to win."
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