Football: Bayern to replace sacked Nagelsmann with Tuchel – report
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Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann is set to be sacked by the club, say media reports.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BERLIN – Bayern Munich have fired their coach Julian Nagelsmann, Bild newspaper reported on Thursday.
The 35-year-old was in charge when Bayern lost 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen last Sunday and Borussia Dortmund moved top of the German Bundesliga.
Former Chelsea and Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel is the favourite to replace him, reported the Bild.
Nagelsmann took charge in 2021 and led Bayern to their 10th German title in a row last season.
German media had reported before the Leverkusen game that Bayern were set to sack their coach, with the perennial Bundesliga winners struggling to assert themselves in the title race.
The shock dismissal would come with the team second in the table, a point behind arch rivals Dortmund and only four points ahead of surprise challengers Union Berlin.
Following the loss on Sunday, Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic expressed his displeasure at the side’s performance.
“We let ourselves be overrun by a team who played in midweek. That’s not what it means to be Bayern Munich,” he said.
Despite their uninspiring league form, Bayern remain in the hunt in the league, as well as the domestic and European Cup competitions.
They brushed aside French giants Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16, winning 3-0 across both legs.
The German champions will face English Premier League title holders Manchester City in the quarter-finals in April.
In the Champions League, they have strung together eight victories from as many matches played against opponents including Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSG.
Bayern have also conceded just twice in their European campaign, against the Czechs of Viktoria Plzen.
Tuchel, meanwhile, is seen as an ideal replacement, having won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021.
He has been without a club since leaving the Blues in September, and had already been in touch with Bayern in recent days, according to sports magazine Kicker.
Bayern’s next fixture is a top-of-the-table clash against Dortmund in Munich on April 1.
“That is now a must-win game for us, because it will be very difficult to win the title otherwise,” Nagelsmann said after the Leverkusen defeat.
Despite being in second place in the table, Bayern are enduring their worst league campaign in 11 years with only 52 points from 25 games.
They have been defeated three times – by Augsburg in September, at Borussia Monchengladbach in February and then against Leverkusen. They have also drawn seven games.
Nagelsmann arrived from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2021 to replace Hansi Flick who had led Bayern to the Bundesliga title, German Cup, Champions League, German and European Super Cups and Club World Cup.
Flick then left to take over the German national team. AFP, REUTERS