Thomas Tuchel officially takes over as Bayern Munich head coach after Julian Nagelsmann is sacked
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Updated 24/03/2023 at 17:05 GMT
Julian Nagelsmann has been sacked as Bayern Munich head coach and replaced by former Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel. Nagelsmann joined Bayern on a five-year deal in April 2021 but has been confirmed to be axed after poor form in the Bundesliga in 2023. Bayern are a point behind Borussia Dortmund, who they face next, while they meet Manchester City in the Champions League.
Flick ‘very surprised’ by talk of Nagelsmann's Bayern Munich departure
Bayern Munich have officially sacked head coach Julian Nagelsmann and replaced him with former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel, who has signed a deal that runs until June 2025, will take charge for the first time against his former club Borussia Dortmund on April 1.
The shock move has come just days after Bayern were beaten 2-1 by Bayer Leverkusen to leave them a point behind Bundesliga leaders Dortmund heading into the international break.
Along with Nagelsmann, assistant coaches Dino Toppmoller, Benjamin Gluck and Xaver Zembrod have also been released.
Nagelsmann signed a five-year deal when he took over as Bayern boss in April 2021 after impressing with RB Leipzig.
He won the Bundesliga in his first season in charge but Bayern were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by Villarreal and lost 5-0 in the second round of the German Cup to Borussia Monchengladbach.
Bayern have been impressive in the Champions League this season, winning all eight games, scoring 21 goals and conceding just twice.
However, in the Bundesliga they have lost twice and drawn three games in 2023 to fall behind Dortmund.
Tuchel has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in September. He won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021 and has previously managed Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern play Dortmund after the international break and soon meet Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic did not hold back in his criticism of Bayern's display in their loss to Leverkusen.
Salihamidzic told DAZN: "That wasn't what Bayern Munich means. We missed everything. We let ourselves be overrun by a team that was still playing on Thursday [in the Europa League]. Bayer was better in every respect.
"I've rarely experienced so little drive, so little mentality, so little duel, so little assertiveness.
"This team is so good when they have a mentality from the start and go 100 percent. And she's not as good when she's playing like she is today. When she is lazy and thinks that she can do anything with the playful quality. She just can't."
Bayern are bidding for an 11th Bundesliga title in a row.
Possible reasons for Nagelsmann's departure
On Friday morning, respected Sky Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg reported some factors that were in play for Nagelsmann being sacked.
He reported that Bayern hadn't progressed under Nagelsmann in the way the team would have liked and the club weren't impressed by the lack of development for some of the current players as well as ones they had signed.
Plus, the club were not impressed by Nagelsmann's decision to go skiing during the international break rather than stay in Munich and prepare for the games coming after the break is over.
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