Reports coming out of Germany claimed this morning that Thomas Tuchel is set to leave his position as manager of Bayern Munich at the end of the 2023/24 season, which the German club then confirmed shortly afterwards,
The former Chelsea manager was appointed as Bayern boss in March 2023, but less than 11 months later, it’s been confirmed that the German giants will be appointing a new manager ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
This comes off the back of Bayern losing three consecutive games; a 3-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen, a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Lazio in the Champions League, and a surprising 3-2 loss to Bochum most recently in the Bundesliga.
Thomas Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich
Many fans speculated that Tuchel’s days as manager of Bayern Munich were numbered when his side lost 3-2 to Bochum in the Bundesliga at the weekend, ensuring that Bayer Leverkusen remained eight points clear at the top of the table, with just 12 games left to play.
The ever-reliable Florian Plettenberg reported that ‘after good and fair discussions’ between Bayern and Tuchel, the decision has been made to ‘part ways at the end of the season’. An official announcement from the club then followed.
Perhaps most surprising is the news that Bayern aren’t sacking Tuchel with immediate effect, a decision that many felt the club would be forced into taking after a slew of poor results, which could see them knocked out of the Champions League before even reaching the quarter-finals next week.
Bayern Munich want Xabi Alonso
In news that won’t be received well by fans of BOTH Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen, Plettenberg is also reporting that Bayern higher-ups have highlighted Xabi Alonso as the ‘absolute top candidate’ to replace Tuchel at the end of the season.
Liverpool also view Alonso as the front-runner in the race to replace Jurgen Klopp, with the German coach also leaving his post as manager of the Reds at the end of the season. However, it seems like they’re not going to have a straight run at securing the Spaniard’s services.
Bayern always tend to sign the best players and appoint the best managers from within the Bundesliga, so Leverkusen fans will be hoping that if Alonso does leave at the end of the season, it’s to Liverpool rather than to the side that they’re widely expected to beat to the Bundesliga title.
As noted, after a string of poor performances and a 1-0 loss in Italy to Lazio in the first round of the Champions League, Bayern have fallen to fourth-favourites in the competition’s outright betting, with Leverkusen also now the ‘clear favourites’ to win the Bundesliga come the end of the campaign. At the time of writing, Bayern are 7/2 to win the Champions League come the end of the season, as well as 7/2 to win the Bundesliga for the 12th year in a row.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication.
