Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel admitted that the Bundesliga title race was finished after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund, which left Bayer Leverkusen 13 points ahead with seven games remaining.
Tuchel said “Congratulations to Leverkusen,” to Sky Germany after the match. This happened just hours after unbeaten league leaders Leverkusen won 2-1 against Hoffenheim at home, with two late goals.
When asked if the title race was over, Tuchel replied “of course,” saying “it’s clear” that Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen would win their first-ever Bundesliga crown.
“After the game today there’s nothing left to say,” said Tuchel, who will leave Bayern in the summer.
Leverkusen, who have only lost eight points this season, only need nine points from their final seven games to secure the Bundesliga title for the first time.
Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who has won 12 titles in Munich, including the last 11 straight, told Sky: “I’m not a math expert and I haven’t calculated, but it's unrealistic.”
It was the latest difficulty in a challenging week for Bayern.
Alonso, who was expected to succeed Tuchel at Bayern, announced on Friday that he would remain as Leverkusen coach beyond this season.
Tuchel said his team “did not perform at a high level” during the game, saying “we shouldn’t have allowed it to happen but we did.”
Assisted by goals from Munich-born Karim Adeyemi and defender Julian Ryerson, it was Dortmund’s first victory in Munich in 3,641 days, dating back to 2014 when Jurgen Klopp was in charge.
Tuchel expressed dissatisfaction with a first-half decision to not award Bayern a penalty when Mats Hummels seemed to handle the ball in the box, criticizing the “catastrophic” decision.
Dortmund were leading 1-0 at the time due to a 10th-minute goal from Adeyemi, and it appeared that the ball had bounced off Hummels’ foot onto his hand, but VAR did not give a penalty.
Tuchel said he was informed that there was no contact with the hand, but Hummels told Sky after the match that the ball had touched his fingers.
“We’ve seen penalties like that given. It was a terrible decision, a wrong decision,” said Tuchel.
“It was a critical and pivotal moment. There’s a high chance that it (a penalty) would have brought us back into the game.”
AFP
