Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel has ordered his players not to “mope” as they attempt to finish a difficult season with a Champions League final trip to Wembley. (More Football News)
The reigning Bundesliga champions head for promoted Heidenheim on Saturday with Tuchel having admitted after last weekend’s 2-0 home defeat by Borussia Dortmund that their hopes of securing a 12th successive league title are over.
Leaders Bayer Leverkusen are 13 points clear of second-placed Bayern with just seven games remaining, but Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final clash with Arsenal represents an opportunity to rescue the campaign.
Tuchel told a press conference: “We want competition and the opportunity to make things happen tactically. You need alternatives for that. I’m really unhappy with the way we played against Dortmund.
Advertisement
“There’s no reason to hide away and mope. We’ll carry on, we tried to push the team again. We’ll carry on to the end with our heads held high.
“As unsatisfactory as the season has been, we still have one goal, which is to get to Wembley. We have to give it our all every day.
“We can’t let our conviction and ambition drop even one per cent. We’re unhappy with the situation, but we’ll do everything we can to squeeze the maximum out of it.”
Heidenheim, who lost 4-2 in the reverse fixture in November having fought back from Harry Kane’s first-half double to level at 2-2, will host Bayern in the Bundesliga for the first time, and Tuchel knows that will present its own challenges.
Advertisement
He said: “We need to show a reaction, do the basics again. That’s how we put the Dortmund performance behind us.
“We’ll see a classic David v Goliath game tomorrow, an emotional stadium that supports the home team. Of course, there’s a game after this that we’re looking at.
“If we want to achieve our Champions League dream, we have to deliver top performances every day, tighten up every day. We’re not going to let anyone off the hook.”
Bayern will be without the injured Manuel Neuer, Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman, Noussair Mazraoui and Aleksandar Pavlovic for the game at the Voith-Arena, and all five remain doubts to face the Gunners.
The hosts, who sit in 11th place, will have to do without the suspended Nikola Dovedan, who has been handed a two-match ban following his dismissal in last Sunday’s 3-3 draw at Stuttgart, while fellow midfielder Norman Theuerkauf is ill.
Head coach Frank Schmidt told a press conference: “Bayern Munich, as the German record champions, is of course something special for the club and the fans with their many outstanding players and as a club as a whole.
“But in the end it’s like this: we have seven match days to go and nothing has changed in our approach. We still need points and we want to get them as quickly as possible.”
