There was a sense in which you could argue that this was to be expected. This was, after all, the third time in successive seasons that Mainz had sent Bayern Munich home with a defeat in late April. “Oops, I did it again,” was the caption on the club’s social media post, featuring the inevitable Britney Spears mid-dance with the Mainz club crest on her jumpsuit.
It was the only thing that was familiar about this scenario. More accurate was the later, second attempt from the wags doing the socials for Die Nullfünfer. It featured Homer Simpson coming home – Mainz crest imposed on his suit – joyously proclaiming “I got the job!” and greeted by a proud Lisa (wearing a Bundesliga badge) telling him she always knew he could do it. Bart, rocking the Borussia Dortmund logo, joins in while sneakily turfing a cake iced with the words ‘At Least You Tried’ into the bin.
We don’t yet know if this is the game that definitively changed the course of the Bundesliga title race, with Bayern’s slip allowing Dortmund to go top with five games to go, courtesy of a 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt shortly after. It is at least enough for us to believe in a thrilling end to the season, 11 years after a team other than Bayern lifted the Meisterschale (naturally, it was Jürgen Klopp’s BVB).
What we definitely know is that there is something truly, seriously wrong at Säbener Strasse. The nuclear option of removing Julian Nagelsmann and replacing him with Thomas Tuchel can be confirmed as a failure, torching the long-term for the short and making things much worse. Few would blame Tuchel himself – despite the wry suggestion of Bild’s Walter M.Straten that he could be fired now given his “catastrophic start” matching the “unbreakable” slow start of Sören Lerby in 1991-92 – but neither would many claim that the former Chelsea manager has done a good job so far.
The manner of their second-half implosion on Saturday was jaw-dropping, and clearly the straw that broke the camel’s back. They had led at half-time, thanks to Sadio Mané’s first club goal since the end of October against the same opposition, which had been the third in a 6-2 win, when Bayern were swaggering in familiar fashion. Losing at Mainz can happen. Mistakes can happen, like Yann Sommer’s failure to gather Lee Jae-sung’s bouncing shot, which opened the way for Ludovic Ajorque to head in the equaliser. What cannot happen is the flurry of three unanswered goals in 14 minutes, with no real response carved from 74% possession. The lack of desire was something Oliver Kahn couldn’t accept. “Who was the team that wanted to become German champions?” he ranted. “It definitely wasn’t ours. In the end there are 11 men who are on the pitch and who simply have to work their butts off for the goals of this club.”
Yet if the players’ behaviour – under particularly intense scrutiny following the altercation between Mané and Leroy Sané in Manchester 13 days ago – is taking some heavy criticism, Tuchel is no longer getting a free pass either. The Mainz defeat means he has accrued as many competitive losses (three) in his first seven games as Nagelsmann managed in 37 this season, taking in exits from the Champions League, the DfB Pokal and the hitherto seemingly impossible of being deposed from Bundesliga top spot.
Like so much of this, though, it was about the manner rather than just the raw data. Or, more precisely, Tuchel’s manner. His post-match press conference after the quarter-final first leg in Manchester had caught the attention with its soupçon of eccentricity, as he claimed he was delighted with his team’s performance (“a huge step forward”), the 3-0 scoreline had been harsh, and his side were “brutally punished” for their mistakes.
German media were less forgiving of his words in the Mewa Arena on Saturday. “Tuchel used the word “obviously” eight times in his press conference after the 3-1 (loss) in Mainz,” wrote Mario Krichel in Kicker. “Six times he said: ‘I don’t know’” Bild called his words “completely clueless”.
Many of Bayern’s problems predate Tuchel; the defensive flakiness (even if that is an area where he toughened up Chelsea pretty quickly), a questionable transfer policy and more. Yet for a supposedly ruthless coach, he sounded uncertain when asked to explain this damaging defeat. “Obviously we don’t have the energy at the moment to fight back, to deal with setbacks,” he said. “I don’t know why now.”
Tuchel on Bayern terrible moment: “We have no energy, I don’t know why. It’s so difficult. The team looks like they have already played 70 games this season…”. 🔴 #FCBayern
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 22, 2023
“We're not awake, we're exhausted”, Tuchel has told @kerry_hau. pic.twitter.com/6UzmNNZPxQ
This sense of not knowing the answers, but also not knowing how to search them out, has concerned many Bayern observers. It is all very un-Bayernlike. With doubts over Kahn’s and Hasan Salihamidzic’s abilities to take charge of the situation, it has been suggested that board member Uli Hoeness might make a renewed break for power and attempt to bring back Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Bayern must salvage the absolute bare minimum from this season, the Bundesliga title, and it isn’t in their hands. Of Dortmund’s five remaining games three are at home, and the highest placed side they will face are Mainz, Bayern’s conquerors, on the last day. They currently sit in seventh.
That Edin Terzic’s side conjure a slip of their own is far from impossible. With the coach following his sporting director, Sebastian Kehl, in openly admitting his team are fighting for the title, it is perhaps no coincidence that Dortmund have played as if they have something to lose in their last few games – even against plummeting Eintracht, BVB look very twitchy and vulnerable at 2-0 up, with Mats Hummels taking time off from making vital blocks to head a third before half-time and calm the nerves.
Donyell Malen had been the star man with a brace (“it was his best game for us,” said Terzic) and BVB celebrated by mocking up a photo of the Dutchman with Ronaldo’s 2002 World Cup haircut, annotated with the captain ‘Ronyell Malen’. How Bayern could do with someone ready to step up and take centre stage in a similar fashion right now.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-1 Union Berlin, Leverkusen 2-0 Leipzig, Freiburg 0-4 Schalke, Dortmund 4-0 Eintracht Frankfurt, Hertha Berlin 2-4 Werder Bremen, Hoffenheim 1-3 Cologne, Mainz 3-1 Bayern, Bochum 1-5 Wolfsburg, Augsburg 1-1 Stuttgart
Talking points
• The underdogs are taking over the top four. Union Berlin’s win in the late game at Borussia Mönchengladbach and Freiburg’s more predictable 4-0 spanking of Schalke puts them third and fourth respectively, with on-fire Leverkusen doing them the favour of beating Leizpig 2-0 with a dogged defensive display, underlining another string to Xabi Alonso’s bow.
• Pál Dárdai’s Hertha comeback was not what he hoped for, with Marvin Ducksch stepping up in Niclas Füllkrug’s absence and scoring a hat-trick to power Werder to a win in Berlin. They are not stranded due to Schalke’s ineptitude, Stuttgart only drawing at Augsburg and still-not-in-the-bottom-three Bochum being hammered at home by Wolfsburg. Bochum’s coach, Thomas Letsch, talked of “catastrophic mistakes” as their home form falls to bits – and near-neighbours Dortmund visit on Friday.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 29 | 27 | 60 |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | 29 | 46 | 59 |
| 3 | Union Berlin | 29 | 13 | 55 |
| 4 | Freiburg | 29 | 8 | 53 |
| 5 | RB Leipzig | 29 | 16 | 51 |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 29 | 12 | 47 |
| 7 | Mainz | 29 | 9 | 45 |
| 8 | Wolfsburg | 29 | 14 | 43 |
| 9 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 29 | 4 | 42 |
| 10 | Borussia M'gladbach | 29 | -3 | 36 |
| 11 | Cologne | 29 | -7 | 35 |
| 12 | Werder Bremen | 29 | -9 | 35 |
| 13 | Augsburg | 29 | -16 | 30 |
| 14 | Hoffenheim | 29 | -11 | 29 |
| 15 | VfL Bochum | 29 | -34 | 27 |
| 16 | Stuttgart | 29 | -15 | 25 |
| 17 | Schalke 04 | 29 | -30 | 24 |
| 18 | Hertha Berlin | 29 | -24 | 22 |
