Bundesliga: “For 70 minutes, we did not play like a team that wants victory,” complains Tuchel

Very uninspired on Sunday afternoon on their lawn, Bayern Munich only played 20 minutes "which is obviously too little", and logically lost against Werder Bremen (1-0), railed the Munich coach Thomas Tuchel.

“For 70 minutes, we didn't play like a team that wants victory, that wants to fight for the league title, that wants to give an answer. We did it for 20 minutes, which is obviously far too little,” underlined Thomas Tuchel at a press conference after the match.

Trailing on a goal from Mitchell Weiser on the hour mark, the Munich residents only showed the beginning of a reaction too late, in the last quarter of an hour, notably under the impetus of French striker Mathys Tel came on in the second half.

“It can in no way be our ambition, to start a match this way, play such a first half, come back this way after the break, and only try to accelerate in the 70th minute. It goes against any rule in competitive sport,” insisted Tuchel. As a result in the standings, Bayern lost ground to Bayer Leverkusen, winner on Saturday at RB Leipzig (3-2 after trailing twice).

The Munich side are seven points behind (41 against 48) and will absolutely have to win against Union Berlin on Wednesday (8:30 p.m.) at home in a late match, to avoid letting Leverkusen escape in the lead. “If we play like that on Wednesday, we will have big problems. We have to find solutions, I have to find solutions. It’s a big regression,” said the Bayern coach.

“In the first half, we left too many counter-attack possibilities, too much space. Both in the construction of the game and in the attitude, we were messy. Just like in defensive duels,” added Thomas Tuchel.

Bayern had not lost for over 15 years against Werder Bremen (5-2 home defeat on September 20, 2008) and this is the first time that Bayern has not scored a goal in the league at home since September 9. February 2020 (0-0 against Leipzig).