Bayern Munich With Another Defeat Ahead Of Crucial Arsenal Fixture
Harry Kane appears crestfallen as Bayern Munich suffer a 3-2 defeat to Heidenheim over the weekend. (Pictured: Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Last Saturday, Bayer Leverkusen beat Union Berlin with a score of 1-0 and Bayern Munich lost to Heidenheim with a score of 3-2. If Leverkusen wins against Werder Bremen next week, they will win the title. While the title is almost secured, Bayern's loss may affect their upcoming match against Arsenal in the Champions League.
Without a doubt, Thomas Tuchel, the head coach of Bayern, gave up hope of winning the Bundesliga title last week after Dortmund's loss in the Klassiker. During the post-game press conference, Tuchel conceded defeat and congratulated Leverkusen on their victory.
Sport Bild reported that the Bayern hierarchy viewed a particular statement with skepticism. As per the report, the club leaders thought that it went against the values and principles of the club to offer congratulations to Leverkusen before they were guaranteed to win the title.
According to the report, the managers of the club believed that Tuchel was giving too many advantages to Leverkusen so that they could win the championship. They did not fault forward Thomas Müller for the loss but praised him for not losing his fighting spirit. Müller expressed that they will offer their congratulations to Leverkusen after they win the match against Dortmund.
There will be a lot of talk about Leverkusen when they win the championship. However, at the moment, the focus is on Bayern and their first unsuccessful season since 2012.
Naturally, the team with the most victories, the Rekordmeister, is still participating in the Champions League. They may have held some belief that they could outperform Arsenal and move on to the semifinals before the international break. However, after losing to both Dortmund and Heidenheim, their confidence has dwindled heading into the game in London.
The coach of Bayern Munich, Thomas Tuchel, appeared speechless after his team's recent loss in the Bundesliga (Photo: Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images).
Max Eberl, the director of sport for Bayern, was asked what made him optimistic for the upcoming Arsenal game but couldn't come up with an answer. Despite this, he fully supports Tuchel to lead the team during the first leg against Arsenal. However, there is uncertainty surrounding whether Tuchel will continue with Bayern until the end of the season. Eberl could not give a definite answer to that question.
Tuchel, on the other hand, was speechless again when questioned about his team's recent loss. Tuchel stated that this level of play is unacceptable. He added that everything was looking good for them at halftime, but it's hard to provide a good explanation now. The team is having difficulty sustaining their level of performance, and unfortunately, this game was more evidence of that. Tuchel mentioned that they threw the game away during the initial 15 minutes of the second half despite doing a lot of good work during the initial half.
The recent collapse of Bayern is really unbelievable. Initially, Bayern was dominating the game and had a 2-0 lead at halftime against the newly promoted Heidenheim team. However, the Heidenheim team fought back hard and managed to turn around a game that was seemingly already over in the second half.
In general, the outcomes indicate two points: Tuchel's incapability to effectively communicate with his team and the vulnerability of the entire club. It seems that the players of Bayern lose their confidence easily when faced with difficult situations.
What impact will this have on Arsenal's upcoming matches? It's undoubtedly disappointing for Bayern supporters. Even though Bayern is in a vulnerable position, Arsenal has been having a fantastic season in the Premier League.
The two teams appear to be completely different from the last time they faced each other in the knockout stages. In 2017, Bayern easily won with a score of 10-2 overall. However, this time around, it's highly improbable that Bayern will achieve the same outcome. Instead, Arsenal is being touted as the clear favorite.
It is true that the upcoming match between Bayern and Arsenal could have a significant impact on the relationship between Tuchel and the club. Currently, Tuchel is scheduled to depart from the team at the conclusion of the season. However, it must be emphasized that if things do not go well for Bayern in their match against Arsenal, Tuchel may not have valid reasons to continue his position until the summer.
Manuel Veth is the presenter of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast, and he currently holds the position of Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has written articles for many well-known publications such as the Guardian, Newsweek, Pro Soccer USA, Howler, and more. If you want to keep up with Manuel's work, you can follow him on Twitter by searching for '@ManuelVeth' and on Threads by searching for '@manuveth'.
