The Bundesliga has been abuzz during the international break after defending champion Bayern Munich sacked Julian Nagelsmann and brought in Thomas Tuchel as his replacement.
But while Tuchel has been officially unveiled as the new Bayern boss, some of Bayern’s stars – namely, starting midfielders Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka – are still coming to grips with Nagelsmann’s shock departure.
Meanwhile, Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund are dealing with injuries to key players ahead of their massive Der Klassiker against Bayern this weekend.
Read on below as SBOTOP catches you up on all of the biggest Bundesliga news and updates during the international break.
Thomas Tuchel takes charge at Bayern Munich
Thomas Tuchel has been named the new manager of Bayern Munich after Julian Nagelsmann’s shock dismissal.
The move comes on the heels of Bayern’s 2-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen just before the international break, which saw them overtaken by rivals Borussia Dortmund for top spot in the Bundesliga.
Tuchel admitted that the speed of his move to Munich caught him by surprise as there was no prior indication of Bayern’s interest.
“Things went quickly. The timing was surprising, I didn’t expect it and there was no contact beforehand. I assumed that I would continue my career abroad. The first interview was on Tuesday evening,” Tuchel said.
Tuchel takes charge of Bayern at a crucial stage of their season. His first match in charge will be against former club Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker. And just 10 days later, he will face off against Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, whom he famously beat in the Champions League final back in 2021.
But Tuchel believes he has a squad that is more than capable of competing with the Premier League champions.
“Bayern have a squad that would play for the title in the Premier League, in quality and depth. In England and Paris, they rate Bayern extremely highly. Nobody wants to play against Bayern Munich. The size, the strength of the club is undisputed,” Tuchel said.
Bayern midfielders come to Nagelsmann’s defence
The sacking of Julian Nagelsmann caught many people by surprise, not least the actual Bayern Munich players.
Midfielders Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich both admitted they were surprised to hear of Nagelsmann’s dismissal.
“I would be lying if I said the last few days hadn’t affected me. It was extremely difficult. We’ve had a very close relationship with Julian. I probably saw him more than my family. It was a shock,” Goretzka said.
Kimmich also shot down suggestions that Nagelsmann was fired due to conflict with the Bayern players.
“We won only 5 games out of 10. But I can say that he didn’t lose the dressing room. I’ve already been through a few coaching changes – there was nothing to indicate internally that he lost the dressing room or that players are unhappy. We all were surprised.”
Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic both pointed to the team’s decline in development since January as the main reason for their decision to make the head coaching change.
Dortmund injury concerns piling up ahead of Der Klassiker
While Bayern will have to prepare for Der Klassiker with a new coach, Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund have some injury concerns to deal with ahead of the huge top-of-the-table clash.
Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck had to pull out of the Germany side after he picked up a thigh injury late in their 2-0 win in their international friendly against Peru.
Meanwhile, star midfielder Jude Bellingham reportedly has to undergo treatment for a knee injury that he’s been dealing with for the last two months.
Those two could yet feature against Bayern, but if not, Dortmund’s Bundesliga 2023 betting odds for that match will take a massive hit, especially with teenagers Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Youssoufa Moukoko also both set to miss out due to injury.
But there is some positive Bundesliga 2023 news for BVB, as Julian Brandt and Karim Adeyemi are both expected to be back for the big game after spending time on the sidelines.
Brandt is BVB’s leading Bundesliga scorer with eight goals, while Adeyemi had scored in each of his last three Bundesliga games before his injury.
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