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While the action on the pitch this international break was exciting, the entertainment value off it was just as good.
Welcome to sacking season, the time of the year when the top tiers of European football serve up more relationship drama than Love Island as clubs switch up mangers going into the business end of their campaigns.
Conte’s breakup with Tottenham and Roy’s rekindled relationship with Crystal Palace were great story lines, but it was Bayern Munich’s affair with Thomas Tuchel that delivered the twist that caught us unaware.
Tuchel and the Bavarian club had been eyeing each other off for some time. The German had been living in Munich weeks before the international break.
Bayern Munich planned to appoint Tuchel in the summer, but the coach had become impatient. When Julian Nagelsmann went away on a ski holiday, it proved to be the perfect opportunity for Tuchel and Bayern to make their relationship official.
Nagelsmann only found out about his imminent sacking via a news report. At the time of his sacking the club were a point off Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund, who they face at home this weekend, and still competing in all competitions.
A classic case of, “It’s not you, it’s me” as the club desperately wanted a proven Champions League tactician on board going into the later stages of the competition.
Bayern are expecting the same honeymoon period Tuchel had at Chelsea. They are following the same blueprint as the London club, who replaced then manager Frank Lampard with Tuchel mid-season.
Chelsea went on to win their second Champions League title that season with a 1-0 win in the final over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City who are up next for Bayern in the Quarter Finals.
Until Tuchel’s appointment, Manchester City were favourites to get a job done over Bayern, but their new coach has proven to be a tactical adversary for Guardiola.
In their first three meetings under Tuchel, Chelsea beat Manchester City three times on the trot. Each game was a strategic affair with the first result being a 1-0 in the FA Cup Semi Final followed by a 1-2 win away at Etihad Stadium in the Premier League.
It was these tight wins that laid the groundwork for Guardiola’s tactical-overthinking nightmare in the Champions League final.
His wild decision to not play a holding mid-fielder or recognised striker for the first 60 minutes, ultimately saw Chelsea take a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute and hold onto it for the rest of the match.
Where Guardiola has the advantage over Tuchel, is time. The coach only has three games to get Bayern up and running before the sides meet in the Champions League and his first game is Der Klassiker, where he’ll face his ex-club and league leaders, Borussia Dortmund.
Throw into the mix a split dressing room, torn on Nagelsmann’s coaching style and you have a huge task for Tuchel to get a team translating his strategy onto the pitch before the first leg against Manchester City.
Guardiola will still be biting his fingernails, despite this timeframe. There’s little doubt that Tuchel will get the players buying into his philosophy.
With the players at his disposal, his intense coaching style and being back home in Germany, it’ll be sooner rather than later that Bayern look like contenders on all fronts. With a treble still on the cards, it’s likely Bayern Munich and Thomas Tuchel will have a fruitful start to their marriage.
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