FC Bayern Munich: The empire is defeated. When will it strike back?

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Page 1The Empire is defeated. When will it strike back?

Page 2It needs new idols

The fact that fans of another team suddenly storm the pitch and celebrate the German championship like the Leverkusen team did on Sunday evening must be an unusual sight for FC Bayern players and those in charge. They had a subscription to the title for eleven years. You, from the largest, most famous, most successful and, above all, richest club in the country. The historical non-title seems so unusual that not only in Munich, but as soon as the smoke had cleared in Leverkusen, the question was asked: Was that a one-off slip-up? Or could that happen next year too? And in the one after that?

To answer that, it helps to recognize that, for the first time since 2012, the two things that have to happen in order for FC Bayern not to end up at the top have come together: Bayern have to have a mediocre to bad year, and a competitor has to take advantage of this weak phase . Bayer Leverkusen has fulfilled the second basic requirement extremely furiously and has so far been unbeaten. But at least as relevant is the weak state of the people of Munich. A situation that has persisted for several years. The trend is downwards.

It has been recognized that something has to change: there will be a new coach for the coming season. Thomas Tuchel will leave the club. It’s the end of a misunderstanding. From the beginning, Tuchel gave the impression that he didn’t really know why his team played the way they did. He seemed strangely uninvolved and indecisive. The perplexity displayed may have been honest, but it motivated neither players nor fans. Tuchel’s reputation as an unwieldy but somehow brilliant coach suffered in Munich. The results too.

© ZEIT ONLINE

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Tuchel never managed to turn the collection of talented individuals into a team. A team that attacks as a collective. And one that defends collectively. FC Bayern lived primarily from the moments of their exceptional talents on the offensive. By Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sané. Things were often wild at the back, regardless of the central defender and six-man duo. Bayern have conceded 36 goals so far, Leverkusen have only conceded 19. Another league.

Of course, Tuchel was right when he identified the squad’s problems early on. In the six-man position, the club was unable to bring him the reinforcements he wanted to Munich. Nobody met the highest standards in this important central position: neither Joshua Kimmich nor Konrad Laimer, nor Aleksandar Pavlović. Neither pair of central defenders harmonized reliably with each other, and Bayern had to repeatedly improvise in the right-back position before Joshua Kimmich was able to get comfortable with this role.

The weaknesses in the squad can be corrected through transfers. This will cost, but will be necessary. Humiliated Bavarians like to spend a lot of money. But new playing staff is not enough. The most important thing will be who will be in the coaching bench from next season. Those responsible have recently made a lot of mistakes; since Pep Guardiola, no coach has lasted even two years. A new sports director is there. Max Eberl brings new ideas, but working at the highest Champions League level is new for him.

The fact that fans of another team suddenly storm the pitch and celebrate the German championship like the Leverkusen team did on Sunday evening must be an unusual sight for FC Bayern players and those in charge. They had a subscription to the title for eleven years. You, from the largest, most famous, most successful and, above all, richest club in the country. The historical non-title seems so unusual that not only in Munich, but as soon as the smoke had cleared in Leverkusen, the question was asked: Was that a one-off slip-up? Or could that happen next year too? And in the one after that?