At first glance, there was no dent or scratch on Thomas Tuchel’s head. And the FC Bayern Munich football coach also looked pain-free when he stood in the arena on Sunday afternoon and watched his team’s game.
It would have been very understandable if he had had to hide at least a small dent or a small scratch under his cap, because you could easily imagine him sitting in his living room on Saturday evening and then suddenly jumping up and hitting his head bumped into a lamp or something when Piero Hincapié, the Leverkusen defender, scored the winning goal in the 91st minute of the Bundesliga top game.
On Saturday evening, Tuchel – at least that’s what he had announced before – watched live on TV how the first team from Leverkusen, the team that could really become champions this season, managed the late knockout shot for the second time in a row. And yet that wouldn’t be the most painful moment he experienced that weekend.
“Deserved defeat”
On Sunday afternoon, Tuchel had to watch as Mitchel Weiser, SV Werder Bremen’s energetic winger, broke into Bayern’s penalty area with the ball in the 59th minute, prevailed against the energyless Alphonso Davies and put the ball into the goal with his full instep Manuel Neuer shot.
That was the moment when Bremen won the important points – and when Bayern lost the important points: In the table they are now seven points behind Leverkusen, even if after the catch-up game against Union Berlin on Wednesday evening (20.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) could only be four points.
Either way: This Sunday, Bayern played like a team that really couldn’t become champions this season for the first time since the summer of 2013.
When Thomas Tuchel was asked to classify this game in the DAZN interview, he said: “I didn’t feel us.” He meant the way his team played in the first 70 minutes. His description: “We were (…) extremely static, we moved very poorly, lost a lot of the ball, allowed an incredible number of counterattacks, and our duel behavior was sloppy.” His assessment: “Deserved defeat.”
Bremen steals Bayern’s place
On matchday 18, Thomas Tuchel fielded almost the same team that won 3-0 against Hoffenheim on matchday 17. He decided to make a single change: it was not Thomas Müller who played on the right, but rather Kingsley Coman, who then had to help out on defense in the first few minutes because Bremen counterattacked again and again.
In the 24th minute, Manuel Neuer prevented the score from making it 0-1. In the 25th minute the VAR, which rightly switched on when the goal was in Neuer’s goal for the first time that afternoon. Bremen’s quick attacks were the result of their defensive work. They robbed the champion of the space he needed for his style of play.
They basically played the way you should play against Tuchel Bayern. They prevented Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sané from sprinting towards the defense with space. And the fact that this space was missing and that Bayern couldn’t create it in this game was explained afterwards by the man who can always explain Bayern games best.
“We were far too sluggish and had no life in it,” said Thomas Müller, who came on as a substitute. “By that I don’t mean: you don’t have to shout or throw your studs in. It’s about: How much can you tell from the team that they need a goal, that they want a goal. There is a difference whether I push the ball from left to right or: If I try something, I try something, and if I try it again, I try it again. We absolutely missed this life, this joy of somehow getting through it.”
In the 64th minute, Tuchel switched. He replaced his midfielders Joshua Kimmich and Raphaël Guerreiro as well as Davies and substituted Leon Goretzka, Thomas Müller and Mathys Tel. Then came life, joy.
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But that came too late – also because Bremen goalkeeper Michael Zetterer just managed to direct Tel’s solid header against the post (87th minute). And so one had to say this Sunday with a view to Leverkusen’s victory, Munich’s defeat and the Bundesliga table: Bayern suffered a scratch that could stay.