The manager of the most pragmatic of clubs sounded distinctly unpragmatic. He knew it, too. By his own admission, Thomas Tuchel’s words were scarcely those of a Bayern Munich manager. But then three weeks ago, he wasn’t Bayern Munich manager. His side – or Julian Nagelsmann’s team, under a new manager – had just suffered their heaviest defeat of the season and Tuchel was taking the positives.
“I have seen so many good things that I refuse to focus on the result,” he said. “I know this may sound silly and you may say that is not Bayern but everyone must accept that I was very proud on the sideline. We were courageous, we showed the right character. This does not feel a 3-0 but it is a 3-0.” He had been far less forgiving of his previous 3-0 defeat, an increasingly irascible figure showing his tongue had barbed wire after his Chelsea team were embarrassed at Leeds.
