Six months before the end of his contract, the 47-year-old German coach’s time with the French champions is over. In his two and a half years at PSG, Tuchel was close to giving the ambitious club the longed-for first triumph in the Champions League. The 0: 1 in the final against Bayern Munich in August in Lisbon prevented the first leap to the European club throne, which the club management from Qatar is hoping for.
There was initially no confirmation of the separation on Thursday. The German “Bild” and the French sports newspaper “L’Equipe” both reported the end of the morning. According to information from the broadcaster RMC Sport and the newspaper “Le Parisien”, the Argentine Mauricio Pochettino – most recently coach of Tottenham Hotspur – is to be Tuchel’s successor. The 48-year-old once played for PSG.
Dismissed after a 4-0 win
The club officials informed Tuchel of their decision on Thursday night, reported “L’Equipe”. On Wednesday evening, the team won 4-0 against Racing Strasbourg, but are currently only third in Ligue 1, one point behind the top duo Olympique Lyon and OSC Lille. The last time there was a 1-0 home defeat against Lyon, a 0-0 in Lille. In the Champions League, PSG reached the round of 16 as the winner in a competitive group ahead of RB Leipzig and Manchester United.
“Sometimes you have to celebrate that in the closest team in order not to get bitter,” Tuchel was quoted in an interview published on Wednesday. “Resistance also makes you stronger during your career because you learn to deal with it. You learn to show the bite, get out of self-pity. “
Lack of appreciation
He had admitted in the interview that he sometimes missed the appreciation for the achievements of his team. “We never had the feeling that we had now convinced people and that they recognized our performance. It also makes you a bit sad or angry sometimes, ”admitted the former coach of FSV Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund, who was two champions with PSG and won a total of six titles.
It is always said that PSG have stars like Neymar, world champion Kylian Mbappe and Angel di Maria, Tuchel explained in the interview. But this would completely wipe out very serious team performance. He had also asked whether he was still a coach or a sports politician or a sports minister. However, none of this should have been the decisive factor in the end. The club allegedly made the decision to part ways with Tuchel beforehand, “L’Equipe” said.
Surprising decision
Although there has always been speculation that the relationship with sports director Leonardo is not free of tension, the move for Tuchel now seems to have come as a surprise. After the win against Strasbourg, Tuchel was very happy with the performance. He wished for the coming year that all the players in his squad were healthy and available. “If that is the case, we are competitive. I’m there every day to support my team and take my responsibility, ”he said.
