UCL semifinals 

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The coaching search at Bayern Munich threatens to become a serious distraction ahead of the second-leg Champions League semifinal fixture against Real Madrid. The German giants thought they had finally found a new head coach last week when they zeroed in on Ralf Rangnick. The club hoped to announce Rangnick as the new head after the 2-2 first leg draw against Real Madrid. But despite an agreement in place, Rangnick opted to remain the head coach of the Austrian national team.  

Rangnick made his bombshell announcement that he was going to remain in Austria on Thursday. Within 48 hours, Bayern traveled to third-place Stuttgart, where they were smashed 3-1. That result must be seen in the context of Bayern rotating six players out of the starting XI ahead of the Real Madrid fixture. But even though captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer described the game as an awkward sandwich game he also made one other thing clear. “We want to finish second,” Neuer said post-game. “We never accept defeats,” Neuer said.  

The result against Stuttgart is certainly one issue ahead of the Real Madrid fixture. Another big topic has been injuries. Although Tuchel made six changes, in Raphaël Guerreiro and Eric Dier, two players had to leave the pitch with injuries in the first half. “It is a never-ending story this season,” Neuer said about the injuries. Dier suffered a cut on his head and should be fit for the game on Tuesday. The same can’t be said about Guerreiro. The Portuguese midfielder left the MHP Arena in Stuttgart on crutches and a bandaged foot. “It will be difficult for him to play against Real Madrid,” director of sport Max Eberl said.

Bayern Munich boss Eberl: Tuchel decision made “before I joined” 

Bayern head coach Tuchel was less than amused about the latest series of injuries and indirectly criticized the construction of the squad in his post-game press conference. “You can do that when you have enough players,” Tuchel said when asked about Real Madrid rotating ten players ahead of their 3-0 victory over Cadiz. A subtle hint that some of the Bundesliga results haven’t been up to the coaching staff but are due to the roster constructed by people further up the chain. 

Indeed, the roster construction and the rebuild coming might be one reason why Xabi Alonso, Julian Nagelsmann and now Ragnick have rejected the Bayern job. Despite that, Tuchel has now warmed to staying at the club. “We have an existing contract and have agreed that we will terminate it earlier,” Tuchel said earlier this week. “Everything is always possible, but the answer is the same. The agreement stands. The agreement exists.” Asked about that comment, Eberl said. “That decision was made before I joined the club.” But then Bayern president Herbert Hainer shut the door on Tuchel staying. “The agreement stands,” Hainer said after the Stuttgart game. “I’m convinced that we will present a good coach. Now let’s wait and see what happens.” 

But who? It appears that it is not Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi. De Zerbi said in an interview last week that he wanted to stay at the Premier League club. “We aren’t starting at zero,” Eberl said. “Now suddenly you have guys making a big point that they will be committed to their contracts with their clubs. As if they were the ones to turn us down. I have asked a staff member to get me all the contract renewals for the last 48 hours because they all have turned us down. It has been a bit of a running gag.” A statement that can indeed be interpreted as a shot fired at the Brighton boss but also Unai Emery, who also was supposedly linked with the Bayern job before signing a new contract at Aston Villa. Bayern might not like the rumors but if there is no new coach appointed, the noise will remain and impact the players ahead of a big game against Real Madrid. “We know this is difficult; we aren’t naïve,” Eberl said.