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FANS have hailed Thomas Tuchel’s tactical tweak that “took Bukayo Saka out of the game” against Arsenal.
The German coach masterminded Bayern Munich’s 1-0 triumph over the Gunners at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
Joshua Kimmich scored the only goal of the game to secure a 3-2 aggregate victory and set-up a Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid, who beat holders Man City on penalties. Arsenal barely laid a glove on Bayern throughout the second leg and their talisman Saka was subdued throughout.
His stats made for grim reading afterwards as he failed to register a shot, create a chance, complete any dribbles and also registered zero accurate crosses.
We revealed earlier how Tuchel, who led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021, was planning to spring a tactical surprise.
With regular full-back Alphonso Davies suspended, one of either Noussair Mazraoui or Raphael Guerreiro was expected to replace him.
However, Bayern’s pre-match training saw the pair both feature as Tuchel plotted a way to stop Saka from being Arsenal’s main driving force.
And the 50-year-old coach followed through with that idea by starting the pair as they doubled up on the danger man.
It was Mazraoui that played at left-back with Guerreiro playing higher up, offering him protection from midfield.
And the plan could not have worked out any better – and supporters were quick to praise Tuchel afterwards.
One wrote on X: “People saying Saka ghosted didn’t watch the game. Tuchel took Saka out of the game with his tactics.”
A second post read: “After seeing what Saka did with Alphonso Davies, Tuchel decided to pin him with 2 LBs and Mazraoui absolutely did that job well.”
A third fan said: “Thomas Tuchel masterclass — kept Saka quiet and in turn Arsenal quiet.”
“Tuchel did his homework on Saka,” claimed another one.
A fifth wrote: “Guerreiro and Mazraoui absolutely locked up Saka this game. Seen nothing from him at all.” — Sun.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu