Oliver Kahn conjured up the miracle of Munich in the noble ballroom of the venerable Kimpton Clocktower Hotel. “It doesn’t look so good, it’s just that I’ve experienced incredible things in football. Anything is always possible,” said the CEO. After the devastating 0: 3 (0: 1) of his FC Bayern in the Champions League quarter-finals at Manchester City, Kahn was combative at the midnight banquet. Coach Thomas Tuchel and his shocked stars listened to the haunting words of their boss over beef Wellington, prawns and Scottish salmon with expressionless faces and hanging heads.
Coach Tuchel reacts defiantly
Thomas Müller, Joshua Kimmich and Co. no longer believe that they can make the impossible possible in the second leg next Wednesday (9 p.m. / DAZN). Müller, who came on late, rated the result as “absolutely catastrophic. It’s a punch in the pit of the stomach.” Leon Goretzka spoke of a “miserable starting position”, a “huge mortgage”. Kimmich was also far from “Mia san mia”: “We can all count.”
Nevertheless: “Nothing is given away,” said Tuchel defiantly. Kahn also demanded a reaction in front of 300 noble fans. “We have a duty to throw everything in again in this second leg. To show our fans all over the world that we’re not giving up.” That’s why it’s “no use now,” emphasized the Bayern boss with a serious expression, “to lament and see everything negatively. We have a great opportunity to become German champions. We cannot afford to lose ourselves in thought here. We have to top it up immediately on Saturday.” Then it’s against Hoffenheim.
And as it currently looks, Bayern have to stretch enormously after the surprising cup knockout with only two points ahead of Dortmund in the league in order to at least get the mandatory title on their already failed triple mission. Tuchel should guarantee great success in the weeks of truth.
And now? Now, after avoidable goals conceded by Rodri (27th), Bernardo Silva (70th) and Erling Haaland (76th), there is an “incredibly annoying result”, according to sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, who took the risk together with Kahn when Julian Nagelsmann was fired was. From a purely statistical point of view, FC Bayern no longer has a chance of reaching the semi-finals, as they have in the past two years. But there was no criticism of the new coach. Especially since Bayern saw themselves at least on an equal footing with “the best team in Europe” (Kahn) until the fateful 0:2, which the completely indisposed Dayot Upamecano had initiated with a serious blunder. “Rarely does a team play like us here,” said Salihamidzic. Even Tuchel did not understand the clear defeat in the coaching duel with Pep Guardiola “at all. We were punished at times when we were absolutely the better team.” By the 70th minute he even “fell in love” with his team, said Tuchel. He had “seen so many good things that I refuse to focus only on the result. It was fun to coach.” The end was not so pleasant.
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Bitter penalty decision dampens chances
Roger Schmidt, the coach of the Portuguese record champions Benfica Lisbon, has not given up hope of reaching the semi-finals. “Of course that’s not the best prerequisite for the second leg, but we still believe in it,” said Schmidt after the 0-2 (0-0) loss in the first leg of the quarter-finals against Inter Milan.
Nicholas Barella (51st) and Romelu Lukaku (82nd, hand penalty after video evidence) had brought Inter much closer to the first semi-final since 2010. “We have tried everything. The players fought as best they could,” said Schmidt, 56, who described the penalty decision as “unlucky”.
