Under-fire Bayern face Lazio

STUNG by a 3-0 humiliation at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich head to Lazio today knowing only a deep run in Europe will salvage their season.

Thomas Tuchel’s side were humbled by an outstanding Leverkusen on Saturday and are now five clear in the league and remain unbeaten after 31 games in all competitions.

Bayern managers are judged primarily on the team’s Champions League showings, particularly in recent years when the side’s financial might made domestic dominance a formality.

Despite winning the double, niko Kovac never recovered from a last-16 elimination at the hands of Liverpool in 2019.

Tuchel’s predecessor Julian nagelsmann’s days were numbered after his Bayern was dumped out by Villarreal at the quarter-final stage in 2022.

A poor showing against Lazio, who sit eighth in the Serie A table, could push Tuchel closer to an unthinkable exit, less than a year after joining the german champions.

With 13 games remaining, Bayern could still bridge the five-point gap — particularly given Leverkusen’s reputation for second-place finishes — but it was the manner of the defeat that was most troubling.

Bayern only had one shot on target compared to Leverkusen’s eight and no clear chances at goal.

Xabi Alonso’s side showed they are the best in germany, despite a budget dwarfed by that of the six-time Champions League winners Bayern.

Despite Tuchel’s previous success, the highlight of which was winning the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021, he has failed to put his stamp on a Bayern side too often reliant on individuals.

Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen told reporters on Saturday that “nothing had changed regarding the question of the coach’s future.”

But the fact that Tuchel has failed to put his stamp on the club despite taking over just six months after Alonso took over at Leverkusen will worry the Bayern hierarchy. Tuchel has an acute appreciation of Bayern’s unyielding thirst for success. —