TUCHEL TO STAY IN CHARGE NEXT WEEK

Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel will remain in his position for next week’s Bundesliga game despite Sunday’s shock 3-2 loss at VfL Bochum in the side’s third straight defeat across all competitions, club CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said.

“Of course,” Dreesen told reporters when asked whether Tuchel would be in charge for next Saturday’s game against RB Leipzig. I am not a fan of monstrous coach-backing statements,” he said. “They usually run out after a week. But this (the coach’s future) is not an issue we are dealing with at the moment.

“We have to focus on our next matches,” he said.

The Bavarians are out of the German Cup, are second in the league, eight points off the top, and lost their Champions League round-of-16 first leg at Lazio 1-0 on Wednesday.

They went in front against Bochum but conceded twice late in the first half after the game was interrupted by fans who threw tennis balls to protest against a planned foreign investment in the Bundesliga.

“That interruption threw us off our rhythm. Today it was a win of mentality over quality,” Dreesen said.

For Bayern midfielder Leon Goretzka the current run feels like a bad film.

“It feels like a horror movie that is not ending. Everything is going against us at the moment.”

“We can again sit here and say we started well. But now you feel stupid to limit yourself to half an hour. In the end we tried everything, so you can’t blame us.” — Reuters.