Inducted during the truce in place of Julian Nagelsmann, the former PSG coach saw his team win on Saturday in a decisive match for the title against Borussia Dortmund (4-2).
We will still have to wait to find out if the choice to change coaches during the season was the right one for Bayern Munich. But for his first on the Bavarian bench, former Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel tasted victory on Saturday April 1 in a capital Klassiker for the title in Germany against rival Borussia Dortmund (4 -2).
Thanks to this success, the Munich residents regain the lead in the Bundesliga from their evening opponent. Something to delight the leaders of the club, who had – against all odds – decided to oust the young Julian Nagelsmann during the last international break.
Bavarian Festival for its premiere
Thomas Tuchel, however, did not have much to do for his baptism of fire with his new team. If the German coach decided for a four-man defense with a right-back Benjamin Pavard, he then attended a terrible ball from the opposing goalkeeper to see his own take the advantage. On uan opening without great danger from Dayot Upamecano, the Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel missed his exit, thus allowing the Frenchman to open the scoring (13th). The men of “TT” then accelerated, making it 3-0 after 23 minutes thanks to a brace from the inevitable Thomas Müller.
The audience at the Allianz Arena thus allowed themselves to sing to the glory of their team. An atmosphere that Thomas Tuchel – yet the first Munich coach to experience such fireworks for his debut – obviously did not take the time to appreciate. “I would have liked us to be even more dominating, even at 3-0, explained the German perfectionist in a press conference after the match. Overall, we lost the ball a lot of times which made life difficult for us.”
Energetic on his bench as usual, “nervous” according to his words, the 49-year-old coach did little to celebrate goals, apart from an angry fist when Kingsley Coman scored the fourth of his own (50th), then making future reductions in the score of Emre Can from the penalty spot (72nd) and Donyell Malen (90th) inconsequential. “The two goals we conceded are boringHowever, Tuchel pointed out after the match. There is still progress to be made. That goes for everyone.”
Tuchel can dream of a hat-trick
The fact remains that in a meeting under Tuchel, Bayern took their destiny back into their own hands. Inconstant since the beginning of 2023 with Nagelsmann (two defeats and three draws in 10 Bundesliga games), the club can now hope to reach an eleventh national crown in a row. See more.
Opposed to Freiburg on Tuesday in the German Cup before challenging Manchester City in the shock of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Tuchel’s troupe is still in the race to sign a memorable hat-trick. The last time the revealed tactician in the Ruhr took on a team during the season, he led Chelsea to the 2021 European Championship title. No doubt everyone remembers that in Bavaria.