Thomas Tuchel Publicly Feuds with Bayern President Days Before Real Madrid Clash

• Bayern Munich play Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, April 30
• The Champions League is Thomas Tuchel’s last shot at silverware this season
• The outgoing manager recently hit out at Bayern Munich chief Uli Hoeness

Thomas Tuchel hit out at Bayern Munich chief Uli Hoeness just days to the club’s crunch Champions League semi-final clash against Real Madrid.

The German tactician is set to leave the Bavarian club at the end of the season, after an underwhelming campaign saw Bayern lose out on the league title for the first time in 12 years.

This, combined with Bayern’s underperformance in domestic cups, has done little to help Tuchel’s cause, and it was decided in February that he would leave the club, months before his contract runs out.

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A large section of Bayern fans, however, do not want to see Tuchel leave, as evidenced by an online petition that has since garnered over 17,000 signatures.

But that will do little to convince Tuchel to stay, especially after he was openly criticized by Hoeness, who claimed the German lacked the capacity and willingness to improve his players.

“He doesn’t think he can improve a [Alphonso] Davies, [Aleksandar] Pavlovic or [Jamal] Musiala,” Hoeness told a panel held by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, according to talkSPORT.

"If it doesn’t work, you should buy someone else. I think you should work hard on them and give them confidence.”

Tuchel’s response

Tuchel has since responded to the criticism, saying he was ‘offended deeply as a coach’.

“If we have proven something in the coaching team over the last 15 years, it is that young players - especially from the academy - always have a place with us in training and, through performance, always have a place on the pitch,” the former Chelsea boss said.

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He further questioned the timing of Bayern’s honorary president’s comments, which came just days before the clash against Real Madrid.

According to GOAL, Hoeness has been taking shots at Tuchel all season.

One of the more explosive incidents was when Tuchel complained about Bayern's lack of squad depth. The Bayern chief dismissed those claims, terming them a “feast for the media”.

Tuchel to United?

Elsewhere, Sports Brief reported on Thomas Tuchel’s links to Manchester United.

Current United boss Erik ten Hag has come under immense pressure in recent weeks following the Red Devils' disastrous run of form and results across competitions.

Reports indicate Jim Ratcliffe highly favours Tuchel and would be happy to see the German replace ten Hag at Old Trafford.