For a moment, Niklas Stark looked like a Mallorca party tourist walking along Playa de Palma at Ballermann. In a tracksuit and with a bass box in his arms, the Werder Bremen professional came out of the locker room in the Munich stadium on Sunday evening after the 1-0 (0-0) draw at FC Bayern, the loudspeaker blaring the song “Dicht im Flieger”.
A Werder supervisor had previously brought a case of beer into the Bremen locker room. Thomas Müller was giving an interview and when he saw Stark like that, the Munich offensive star stopped the conversation. “Now you realize: It was important to them,” he said to the journalists. “You can write that.”
It was a match day that gave the players and those in charge of the German record champions something to think about. And should be scary. While Bayer Leverkusen won for the second time in a row with a goal shortly before the end of the game, this time the top game against RB Leipzig (3:2), Bayern lost against Bremen for the first time in 15 years. And after the 18th matchday, they are now seven points behind coach Xabi Alonso’s team – with one game less, Wednesday (8.30 p.m., Sky), Bayern will host Union Berlin in the catch-up game. Winning the German championship is in more danger than it has been for a long time. The people of Munich are threatened with a disaster – their first season without a national title since 2012.
The stars of FC Bayern around world champion Thomas Müller (2nd from left) are currently a mystery to themselves
Source: Getty Images/Sebastian Widmann
It wasn’t just the result against Bremen that had to be a serious warning signal for Bayern. The team’s appearance on the pitch and the statements made by the players and bosses after the game clearly show how dramatic the situation is. This team does not appear as a unit. And has (too) many construction sites.
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It is a warning sign that world champion Müller, who has been at the club for almost 25 years, found there was too little fire and too little life in the game against Bremen. Bayern lack stability, security, looseness, functioning automatisms, ideas and solutions. Their squad is worth almost a billion euros and the team qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League without losing in the group stage.
The club has little explanation for the team’s fluctuations in form. The hoped-for team spirit-strengthening effect of the short training camp in the Algarve last week has probably fizzled out. “Back from Portugal in vacation mode,” writes the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
Thomas Tuchel: “Were extremely static”
The embarrassment against Bremen has consequences: Since this Sunday evening, the roles have changed – FC Bayern is only the hunter. And Bayer Leverkusen the hunted. “It was clearly not enough. We didn’t play for 70 minutes like a team that wanted to force a win, that was playing for the championship, that wanted to give an answer. We only did that for 20 minutes,” said coach Thomas Tuchel: “In the first half we were extremely static. We lost a lot of the ball, allowed a lot of counterattacks and were sloppy in possession. Deserved defeat.”
The 50-year-old also said: “We played as if we were ten points ahead and still had a Champions League game on Tuesday. That is our responsibility. I’m also tired of saying that we’re training well. Nobody believes that anymore.” The team played “inconsequential”. He had the impression that it was trying to “tear down a Bundesliga game between high spirits and gentle play.”
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Tuchel no longer puts himself in front of his team. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen complained about 70 minutes of “boring football.” Sports director Christoph Freund complained: “No passion, no courage – that was simply disappointing.” Midfield boss Joshua Kimmich, whom Tuchel replaced against Bremen, even asked the fundamental question. And was annoyed about his substitution: “Of course I always want to be on the pitch for 90 minutes. Especially when we’re behind, it’s different than when you’re leading 3-0.”
The team is sometimes perplexed by their poor performance. The 0:3 in the Supercup against RB Leipzig, the embarrassing exit in the DFB Cup against the third division club 1. FC Saarbrücken (1:2), the 1:5 in the Bundesliga against Eintracht Frankfurt, now the 0:1 against Bremen – the Bayern are still causing (too) many low points up to this point in the season. “You could tell that the people of Bremen were hungrier than us. That shouldn’t happen to us in the current phase,” said Kimmich. “You don’t get the feeling that we know what it’s about.” And: “In general, you have to question the approach.”
Michael Ballack criticizes Leroy Sané
There are many reasons for Bayern’s problems. The decisions of the former club management around the former CEO Oliver Kahn and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, from whom the club separated last May, still have an impact. They released then coach Julian Nagelsmann last March and opted for Tuchel. An unusual time, many questions remain unanswered about the decision to this day. Tuchel took over in the middle of the season. In the end it was just enough to win the championship.
In addition, there is sometimes a lack of discipline. When Tuchel changed tactics against Bremen and substitute Müller explained this to Leroy Sané, the offensive star, who was supposed to change sides in the game, waved his hand and shook his head. Former national team captain Michael Ballack said on DAZN about Sané’s reaction: “The coach switched to a three-man chain. He can save himself that. If the coach changes it like that, he has to accept it. That affects the team.”
Leroy Sané (l.) was frustrated after the defeat against Bremen. And is criticized by expert Michael Ballack
Source: Getty Images/Sebastian Widmann
Tuchel’s dealings with the leading players will now be exciting. He didn’t let Leon Goretzka start against Bremen – as he did in the 3-0 win against TSG Hoffenheim. Record national player Lothar Matthäus said on Sky: “The fact that Goretzka didn’t play from the start again isn’t good for the mood. The players can’t understand this decision against Goretzka either.” Goretzka is a mentality player and was missing against Bremen, especially as a driver.
Regardless of the outcome of the season: there could be a change at Bayern in the summer. Goretzka’s contract in Munich is valid until June 30, 2026, Kimmich’s until June 30, 2025. Both national players are no longer for sale. Full-back Alphonso Davies’ form curve has been going down for a long time and he has been linked to Real Madrid.
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A rebuild could be good for this Bayern team. In recent years she has sometimes not been given enough responsibility. “We have to hold the team and ourselves accountable and try to fix it,” Tuchel said on Sunday.
He hopes to get another defender for the rest of the season. Nordi Mukiele from Paris St. Germain and Kieran Trippier from Newcastle United are considered candidates. The transfer period ends on January 31st. The pressure on Bayern in the league and on the transfer market has increased again since Sunday evening.
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