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Thomas Tuchel in the Champions League defeat in Rome
Photo: Alfredo Falcone / dpa
Coach Thomas Tuchel has rejected a media report about his alleged harsh internal criticism of FC Bayern's professionals after the defeat against Bayer Leverkusen. The sentence with which he was quoted was “completely absurd,” said Tuchel on Saturday before the game at VfL Bochum. “A coach who says a sentence like that will hopefully never get on the bus with his team again,” he said.
After the game against Bayer Leverkusen, the pay-TV broadcaster Sky reported that Tuchel said to his team in the dressing room: "You're not as good as I thought, so I'll just have to adapt to your level."
Bayern press spokesman Dieter Nickles also rejected Sky's representation at a press conference. "It's just not right, it's not the truth," he said. "Such sentences are released into the media world and sometimes have a toxic and undignified effect."
Sky sticks to his representation
The pay-TV channel, on the other hand, sticks to its presentation. After the statements made at the press conference on Saturday, Sky said in response to a dpa request: “Sky stands for fantastic live sport, but also for investigative journalism. Our team of reporters stands for clean research and enjoys our full trust.«
Munich's performances, especially Tuchel's work, have been criticized again and again this season. The coach had a public quarrel with Sky experts Lothar Matthäus and Dietmar Hamann last year because Tuchel reacted irritably to the two's criticism. The 50-year-old now said he was trying to ignore public reviews as much as possible. “Everyone has to decide for themselves what tone they want to use and how they report about us.”
kjo/dpa