Growing up in the Bavarian village of Pähl, religion played a role for Thomas Müller from an early age. As a child he was an altar boy, later the offensive star met the Pope with his FC Bayern and the national team, and he proposed to his wife Lisa after Christmas mass in front of his parents’ house. She was still a little dizzy from the incense in the church.
On Wednesday night, Müller came out of the dressing room of the German soccer record champions in the Munich stadium in a good mood. And after the 3-0 (2-0) in the second leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League against Lazio Rome, he showed that he also believes in a very sporting deity. “We want to give the football gods another chance so that he can keep the clichés,” said the 34-year-old world champion with a grin. “It doesn’t look like Vizekusen at the moment, but we want to stick with it.”
The mood in the club changed after the win. The pressure before the game against Lazio was enormous. Bayern withstood him and showed their most dominant game this year. And they are now more self-confident again – even in relation to the Bundesliga, which Leverkusen leads with ten points ahead of Munich ten game days before the end of the season. “Everything is still possible in the Bundesliga,” emphasized club president Herbert Hainer.
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This victory was “extremely important for the whole club, not just for us players, but also for the club’s charisma,” said Müller. “We are and of course we want to continue to be a top club in top European football. And for that you definitely have to get to the quarter-finals and towards the semi-finals.”
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Lazio is not the international leader, but rather mediocre in the Italian league. How strong Bayern can really be will only become clear against opponents of a different caliber – the European association Uefa will draw the quarter-finals in Nyon on Friday next week.
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Among other things, a meeting with Paris St. Germain around superstar Kylian Mbappé is possible, and meetings with German clubs are now no longer formally ruled out. With bonuses and spectator income, Bayern have already earned more than one hundred million euros in this Champions League season after advancing.
In normal form, progress against Lazio is a must for Bayern, reaching the quarter-finals is a minimum goal. But little is normal at Bayern this season. That’s why the victory was so important: the team radiated more conviction and confidence again, played with more calm, control and structure. The previously hapless Harry Kane scored twice (39th and 66th minutes), Müller made it 2-0 (45th + 2) – quite confidently after the embarrassing 0-1 in Rome in the first leg.
Thomas Tuchel breaks his toe while making a speech
But it was mainly the things outside the pitch that gave the Munich team hope for the rest of this so far unsuccessful season. Things that indicate that the team and coach Thomas Tuchel could form a community of fate for the remaining two and a half months of the season that can function much better than last.
On the one hand, there was Tuchel himself. The much-criticized coach, who will leave the club in the summer – a year before the end of his contract – is still passionate about his job. So much so that during an emotional speech to the team before the second leg, he kicked a door – and broke his big toe. That’s why the 50-year-old stayed in the dugout when the goals were scored. “There is always a bit of wastage. Professional sport is always narrow-minded. “We just don’t do it with fruit tea,” joked Müller.
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On the other hand, there was Joshua Kimmich. Tuchel had recently replaced the midfielder several times, and Kimmich is not exactly considered Tuchel’s biggest advocate. But when the national player came out of the dressing room after the victory, he praised his boss very much. “The situation is totally unusual for the coach. “He’s really outstanding for that,” said Kimmich. “The whole coaching team is highly motivated, if you were in their position you could approach it differently and say: We don’t give a shit. They really do a great job.”
If Tuchel had been eliminated, it would probably not have been possible to keep him until the summer. But he made the right decisions in terms of formation and tactics, Eric Dier and Matthijs de Ligt were convincing in central defense, and Müller played well. And so there was also praise from the new sports director Max Eberl: “He adjusted the team very well, like against Freiburg. You have to play Lazio like that first. The team implemented what he said.”
In a better mood than he has been in a long time: Thomas Tuchel sends his heart towards the stands during the game against Lazio Rome
Source: Getty Images/Alexander Hassenstein
Jupp Heynckes was informed during the 2013 season that he would no longer be Bayern coach after the season. The club really wanted Pep Guardiola. This really affected Heynckes. In addition to the championship and the DFB Cup, he also won the Champions League.
The bond between him and the team was different than that between Tuchel and the team. The types of trainers are different and the situation is only comparable to a very limited extent. And yet, after the victory, the question arose among fans: What happens if Bayern win the Champions League with Tuchel?
After the elimination from the cup and the setbacks in the championship, the premier class is Bayern’s great hope, the evenings on Europe’s biggest football stage are their great opportunity, their great motivation. “This has to be our competition now!” said Müller.
Final in London as Harry Kane’s dream
Bayern are a long way from being favorites to win the title, but their performance has been too wavering recently, their defense too vulnerable, and their offense not effective enough. But the potential of the squad, worth around a billion, is undisputed. “The Champions League title is always the most attractive title and the hardest to win in Europe,” said Tuchel. He won it in 2021 with Chelsea FC, the year before he lost the final with Paris Saint-Germain against Bayern.
This year the final will take place on June 1st at Wembley Stadium, and participation is a dream, especially for London’s Kane. There are four games until the hoped-for participation. If Bayern were to achieve a triumph despite their many, deep problems, parting ways with Tuchel would not change anything.
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But for him it would of course be a completely different departure from Bayern, a kind of happy ending. “From now on there will be an open draw, so you also need the luck of the draw,” said Tuchel. “Every team that is in the quarter-finals wants to go to the final – us too. There are still goals to be achieved with Bayern.” Does the win against Lazio mean a turnaround for the end of the season? “I hope, but we have to prove it.” It will only happen step by step.
At Borussia Dortmund, Tuchel won the farewell DFB Cup in 2017. Bayern rightly emphasize that you have to remain humble. But the belief that positive things can still happen this season has grown. And if it requires the goodwill of the football gods.
