Things might not yet entirely be lost for Bayern Munich as title rival Borussia Dortmund has to win its Sunday game against Augsburg to outpace the reigning German champion on the final meters of the 2022-2023 season.
But while thousands of frustrated fans left the Munich Arena before the final whistle, the 3-1 defeat comes near a knock-out for the club that has won the national title for the past 10 years and is now facing the first title-less season since 2012.
The Bavarians find themselves ahead of significant changes when it comes to the upcoming 2023-2024 season which is including the club leaders such as chairman Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.
The club announced to talk things through by the end of May in a board meeting. While Dortmund has gambled away several changes this season and hopes are alive that a further misstep might be possible, the first victory of Leipzig in Munich in the club’s history is leaving a bitter taste behind.
Pushed to the background is the fact that RB secured its next season’s UEFA Champions League participation. Not only former German national keeper Kahn has called a title-less season “a catastrophe.”
Former club leaders such as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeness witnessed the setback against Leipzig and the team’s uninspiring performance putting the Bavarians in a shock-like state.
Both are said to still have great influence when it comes to the club’s decisions. It seems more than a bold guess that Kahn and Salihamidzic must fight for their jobs while many predict their dismissal is near.
Critics speak of an imbalanced squad and a failed transfer policy while the noisy departure of former coach Julian Nagelsmann remains a delicate topic.
Things slipping out of hands assumedly triggers significant actions like in 2012 when Dortmund won the league title and the German Cup. The wavering Bavarians initiated a costly transfer offensive which in the end led the side to a decade-long dominance.
Nagelsmann’s successor Thomas Tuchel seems the least to be blamed for the painful ups and downs, but wounds first must heal before starting a successful relaunch.
With a tone of defiance, Bayern icon Thomas Muller spoke of chances still alive “as I first want to see Dortmund win both of its remaining games.” At present Muller’s statement appears whistling in the dark cellar as things won’t turn for the better in Munich with taking the 2023 trophy in a nail-biting finish.
Losing sovereignty in an alarming way indicates the club is suffering from deeper inside difficulties and the powerful men in the background such as Hoeness and Rummenigge won’t let things roll on.
“The team’s performance is far from what we expect. The number of unforced errors coming along with insufficient efforts to keep the tactical approach is disappointing,” Tuchel said, admitting to being clueless.
The Bayern manager said his side gambled away the game and called the upcoming days difficult “as I can hardly deal with defeats happening in that way.”
