Opinion Champions League
For Tuchel’s Bayern, this progress is more than just a fulfilled duty
As of: 01:40 a.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
Coach Tuchel: Munich hadn’t played as dominantly as they did against Lazio in a long time
What: REUTERS
FC Bayern moves into the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Thomas Tuchel’s team is playing significantly improved, the success against Lazio Rome is well deserved – and could have particular consequences in this turbulent season for the record champions.
Mandatory task completed, minimum goal achieved. Normally, this would be the conclusion after FC Bayern reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League – at least if the opponent is not from the world class, but from the midfield of the Italian league, like Lazio Rome.
But little or nothing is normal for the German football record champions with their high demands in this eventful and turbulent season. And that’s why his progress against Lazio is more – even though the Romans can’t be a benchmark for a world club like Bayern, even in a crisis.
Having to build up self-confidence with relatively small steps is very unusual for FC Bayern, that’s what the club bosses themselves say. But it’s necessary now.
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The 3-0 (2-0) in the second leg was an immensely important and deserved victory. It was probably Munich’s best performance this year. They could have won by more, even though they almost fell behind in the first half. The pressure was immense after the 0-1 defeat in the first leg – Bayern withstood it. And preserve the chance of being able to at least partially save the season through the premier class.
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The Munich team had not played as dominantly as they did against Lazio in a long time, and for the first time since the end of January they remained without conceding a goal. After kick-off, the fans celebrated the team in the stadium like they hadn’t in a long time. In an important moment of the season, the players lived up to their responsibilities and showed a reaction after the first leg.
Hardly anyone would have thought a few weeks ago that Aleksandar Pavlovic (young professional from the club’s youth ranks) and Eric Dier (winter signing with few previous appearances at Tottenham Hotspur) would occupy the important positions in central midfield and central defense in this groundbreaking game – probably no one before the season. They solved their tasks against Lazio very well.
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Coach Thomas Tuchel keeps his job after the success. He made the right decisions before the second leg, Matthijs de Ligt played with Dier in the central defense and was convincing, offensive star Thomas Müller also played well and made it 2-0. The much-maligned Tuchel is also a winner this evening. The fact that he even injured himself by kicking a door during an emotional speech to the team before the game shows how passionate he is (still) about his job.
The 50-year-old coach will leave the club in the summer at the latest. On this Tuesday evening in Munich, he and his team had the opportunity to prove internationally in the coming weeks that Tuchel and FC Bayern were not a complete misunderstanding. The Champions League is now Bayern’s big opportunity.
On the pitch against Rome, more cohesion could be felt and seen again, more determination, security and determination. And Harry Kane is finally as ice-cold in front of the goal as a superstar striker – the Englishman scored twice. That can give Bayern hope for the next round.
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In the Bundesliga, Munich are ten points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen and have been eliminated from the DFB Cup. The last hope is the Champions League, the quarter-final pairings will be drawn on Friday next week. This team is currently far from favorites to reach the final, Bayern have been too inconsistent and vulnerable for that recently.
But the victory against Rome is a start. Bayern are still represented on Europe’s biggest football stage: given the past few weeks full of defeats and anger, this is not a given and a success that could have a very positive impact on the rest of the season.
This is also why it was (slightly) more than a compulsory task fulfilled.