Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel can probably plan with defender Matthijs de Ligt for the semi-final second leg in the Champions League against Real Madrid. The Dutchman was able to take part in team training again on Sunday, as Tuchel had previously announced. National soccer player Jamal Musiala was also back on the pitch.
Like Musiala, De Ligt completed substitute training on the club’s premises with the players who did not play from the start in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. De Ligt was missing the first leg against Real (2-2) and now in Stuttgart due to a knee injury. The central defender had recently trained individually. Musiala was also not present in Stuttgart due to knee problems.
Sports director Max Eberl had already reported on Saturday after the defeat in Stuttgart that things were “looking pretty good” for de Ligt and Musiala. After the final training session on Tuesday afternoon, Bayern will fly to Madrid, where the decisive second game against Real for a place in the Champions League final will take place on Wednesday (9 p.m./DAZN). The first leg ended 2-2.
In addition, Eberl immediately put an end to possible speculation on Sunday after an encounter in the stands with former national soccer coach Joachim Löw at the game in Stuttgart. There was “no communication between them about the coaching position” at the record champions in the stadium on Saturday, said Eberl. It is completely normal to say “Hello” to the former national coach in the stadium and also ask him how he is doing.
The 64-year-old Löw has repeatedly emphasized in recent years that after his national coaching job, he was no longer interested in being a club head coach in the Bundesliga. The 2014 world champion coach recently repeated this again with regard to FC Bayern, which is looking for a successor to Thomas Tuchel in the summer.
“He said something very clearly about it. And then I won’t deal with it anymore,” said Eberl about Löw’s statements. “Anyone who says they don’t want to coach Bayern Munich doesn’t want to coach Bayern Munich. And then we will find a coach who is interested in Bayern Munich,” said Bayern’s sports director.