Unrecognizable and defeated on their lawn by RB Leipzig (1-3) last weekend, Bayern Munich is heading, at the dawn of the final day, towards a white season. The first for eleven years.
Is this what marks the end of a reign? To a supersonic counter from Enraged Bulls to pick up at 1-1 (63rd)? At this precise moment of the 32nd day of the Bundesliga, we thought that the house of cards was going to end up collapsing before our eyes, that Bayern Munich was giving way for good. And the prophecy came true. Two penalties conceded and converted later, RB Leipzig won a prestigious victory in an Allianz Arena where the Bavarians were nevertheless undefeated this season in the Bundesliga (1-3).
On closer inspection, this defeat is fundamentally similar to that conceded against Freiburg on April 4 in the German Cup (1-2 defeat). But also the one against Mainz (3-1), the draw against Hoffenheim (1-1) and the one against Cologne (1-1) a little earlier in the season… In short, a succession of hitches unusual.
And if the competition from Borussia Dortmund is fierce this season, it’s because the Bavarians have left them alive for a very (or too) long time. The sentence spread across the Rhine however says that a Bayern in full possession of its means is impossible to tickle over a long exercise of 34 days …
Julian Nagelsmann, dismissed on March 25. IMAGO/Ulrich Wagner / PANORAMIC
But after a complicated month of January, Bayern’s season took an unprecedented turn on March 24 when, against all expectations, the leaders indicated the exit door to Julian Nagelsmann before betting in stride on Thomas Tuchel. This earthquake was a gamble and it quickly turned out to be a loser. While his predecessor was still in the race to win all the trophies in the competitions in which the club was involved, the situation changed in a few weeks.
Since the arrival of Tuchel, the team has lost everything, does not even play better, and seems unable to react when a grain of sand jams the machine. At the helm of Bayern since 2019, Oliver Kahn pointed out this bad habit that has become recurrent, after the disappointment against RB Leipzig: “It’s already happened once or twice this season, it seems that everything collapses as soon as a goal is conceded, as soon as resistance appears“. An unforgivable chronic fragility that does the business of BVB.
Read alsoBundesliga: a first month in hell for Tuchel at the head of Bayern Munich
After the Munich rout, Borussia this time did not give up the opportunity to seize the throne (beating Augsburg 3-0 the next day). The Bundesliga is therefore close to giving its verdict and the Bavarian club, which remains on ten consecutive coronations, is well on the edge of the precipice.
Prematurely eliminated from the German Cup And slapped by Manchester City in the Champions League, Bayern are heading for a trophyless season. Thomas Müller and his partners have not experienced such mishaps since 2011-2012. Let them console themselves, the following season had set the record straight: Bayern had achieved the first hat-trick in its history.
