Bayern Munich, the reigning Bundesliga champions, announced on Friday the dismissal of coach Julian Nagelsmann from his post and the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as his successor.
Nagelsmann, 35, moved to coach the Bavarian in 2021 after his departure from Leipzig to succeed current Germany coach Hansie Flick in the position on a 5-year contract until 2026.
Nagelsmann won the Bundesliga title with Bayern last season, but the Bavarian club are currently second in the table behind leaders Borussia Dortmund, ahead of their summit clash early next month.
The clash against Dortmund will mark Tuchel's first appearance as Bayern manager against his former club Dortmund.
Tuchel, winner of the Champions League with Chelsea, signed a contract with Bayern that extends until 2025 and will begin leading the team's training next Monday.
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Bayern face a tough task in the Champions League quarter-finals, where they face Manchester City, led by former coach Pep Guardiola.
Media reports said Nagelsmann was shocked to hear of his possible dismissal yesterday and was deeply disappointed after meeting Bayern Munich officials who told him to dispense with his services.
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In justifying the decision, Hasan Salihamidzic, sporting director and member of the board of directors for sports affairs at Bayern Munich, said that the decision "to dismiss Nagelsmann was the most difficult decision for me in my career as a sporting director, I had a friendly, friendly and trusting relationship with Julian, I wish him the best in his career, sorry for the decision to part with the team from him."
Hamidić explained the reasons for Nagelsmann's dismissal: "After a careful and in-depth analysis of the team's sporting development, especially since last January, and after our experience in the second half of last season, we decided to dismiss Nagelsmann."
It seems that the decision was not only expected, but was surprising to most of the Bayern players, some of them were shocked to learn the news, such as Portuguese Joao Cancelo on loan from Manchester City to Bayern, while others such as Joshua Kimmich refused to comment.
Nagelsmann's numbers with Bayern indicate good numbers in 84 games in which he led the Bavarian, winning 60 games, drawing 14 and losing 10 with a winning percentage of 71.4%, as well as winning the Bundesliga and two German Super Cups and achieving 8 wins out of 8 in the Champions League this season.