Yet the president of the Bavarian giant was full of praise for his technician. "I think Julian is already very advanced. He is a great coach, who demonstrated against Paris his tactical and strategic excellence at the highest European level," Herbert Hainer told the bi-weekly Kicker earlier this week.

The club's sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic recently spoke of a "long-term project" with the coach of the ten-time reigning German champions, still in the race in three competitions.

Five days after the president's words, Bayern's management is preparing to perform a 180-degree ride on Säbener Strasse, the club's headquarters.

"I didn't know about it," defender Joao Cancelo said Thursday night after Portugal's game.

The timing is surprising. Just before a hearty month of April with a shock against Borussia Dortmund and a Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City, what could have pushed the "Rekordmeister", called in the past FC Hollywood for the whims of its stars, to such a turnaround in the middle of the international break?

Degraded atmosphere

The atmosphere between Nagelsmann and his captain Manuel Neuer had particularly deteriorated since the injury of the goalkeeper of Bayern and Germany (fracture of the lower part of the right knee) in early December.

After the dismissal of Toni Tapalovic, goalkeeper coach since the summer of 2011 and very close to Neuer, in January, the Bavarian captain expressed cold anger in two interviews with The Athletic and the Süddeutsche Zeitung. "It's like my heart was ripped out," Neuer said.

Last week, during his traditional pre-match press conference in Leverkusen, Nagelsmann was also annoyed by the existence of a "mole" within his group, after game plans leaked to the weekly Sport-Bild.

Bayern Munich's German coach Julian Nagelsmann before the Bundesliga match against Borussia Mönchengladbach, in Mönchengladbach, February 18, 2023 © INA FASSBENDER / AFP/Archives

In terms of accounting, Bayern of the young technician (35 years old) is having its worst season in eleven years, with only 52 points scored in 25 matches played. Thomas Müller's teammates have lost three times, as on Sunday in Leverkusen (2-1).

For the first time since the 2011-2012 season, the last title that escaped Bavarian hegemony, the Munich do not occupy, nine games from the end of the season, the chair of leader, ceded Sunday to Borussia Dortmund, unbeaten in the Bundesliga in 2023 (nine wins and one draw).

Tuchel as in 2021

However, the Munich team made a flawless run in the Champions League, with eight wins and double head-to-head matches against FC Barcelona, Inter Milan and Paris SG without conceding a goal.

The momentum at national level is clearly unfavourable to Bayern - Dortmund have scored ten more points since the end of the winter break - and the coming weeks are those of all dangers: the reception of Borussia on April 1 decisive for the award of the title, Freiburg four days later in the quarter-finals of the Cup and especially the double confrontation against City.

It is now up to Thomas Tuchel, whose spells at his previous clubs - Dortmund, Paris SG and Chelsea - ended with sparks and dismissals, to take over. According to German media, he is expected to lead his first training session on Monday, while most of his players will still be with their national teams.

"For the Bundesliga, we say: +Welcome back to Tuchel," league boss Hans-Joachim Watzke, president of Dortmund, where he worked with the technician, told SID.

History for Tuchel repeats itself two seasons apart. Dismissed from PSG at the end of 2020, he was appointed coach of Chelsea at the end of January, to then win the C1 in June 2021 with the Blues. That's all Bayern wishes for him after this palace revolution.

© 2023 AFP