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ARTICLE VIEW:
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Bayern Munich’s Champions League win over Arsenal offers club, coach
Thomas Tuchel and striker Harry Kane redemption arc
By Rory Fleming, CNN
Updated:
5:44 AM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
In the opening exchanges of Bayern Munich’s Champions League
quarterfinal win over the German giant’s apprehension was palpable,
with Thomas Tuchel’s side seemingly shackled by the knowledge that a
defeat would end any hopes of silverware this season.
Bayern’s progression to the semifinals after Wednesday’s 1-0
second-leg victory and 3-2 win on aggregate came just days after had
won the Bundesliga in enthralling fashion. For Munich, winners of the
German league for the previous 11 seasons, Leverkusen’s success was a
jolt to a club that has reigned soccer in Germany for decades.
Dominating possession in the opening passages of the second-leg
quarterfinal, it was Arsenal which looked more at ease despite the
relative inexperience of Mikel Arteta’s team at this level. But as
the game progressed, so too did Bayern’s belief that a so far
tumultuous season could be salvaged at the 11th hour.
There was a fevered atmosphere at a packed Allianz Arena and the game
was preceded by a pyrotechnic show put on by Bayern fans that stretched
across the entirety of the Südkurve.
That raucous Bavarian home support might just have helped edge the
Germans over the finish line, with not much separating either side in
what played out to be an intriguing yet tactical chess match between
Bayern’s Tuchel and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta.
The victory, secured by a thumping second-half Joshua Kimmich header,
now leaves Bayern with a European heavyweight clash against 14-time
European Cup winner .
But what does last night’s success mean for incumbent head coach who
is set to part ways with the club at the end of the current campaign?
Consistently heralded as one of football’s most innovative and
compelling tactical minds, the Bayern head coach has seen his aura
slowly erode over the course of his last two managerial postings.
At Chelsea, where despite winning the Champions League in 2021, the
50-year-old was shown the door just over a year and a half into the job
at Stamford Bridge following a poor start to the 2022-23 season.
To compound matters, despite leading Bayern to a dramatic title victory
on the final day of last season’s Bundesliga, Tuchel was informed in
February of this year that he would be replaced at the end of the
current campaign due to the club’s wishes to undertake a “sporting
realignment.”
Reaching the Champions League semifinals though is likely to go some
way towards rebuilding Tuchel’s brand among football’s elite clubs.
The result is even more impressive when viewed within the context of
Arsenal’s current run of form – Arteta’s team had won 10 of its
last 12 Premier League fixtures.
Despite its early territorial dominance, Arsenal never really landed a
punch on Bayern. Even the balletic brilliance of Gunners skipper
Martin Ødegaard was unable to threaten Tuchel’s fluid and resolute
4-1-4-1 formation.
‘Unbelievable win’
Bayern’s victory over Arsenal also means could end up winning the
Champions League.
Having notched a remarkable 39 goals in 40 games this season for
Bayern, Kane’s move from Tottenham Hotspur to Munich has been a
resounding success in terms of pure numbers, but the team’s fortunes
have marred his performances.
The England captain has been the subject of much ridicule on social
media in recent weeks as it became apparent that the Bavarians would
fail to claw back Leverkusen’s unassailable domestic lead.
Moving from his boyhood club in North London last summer, where he had
failed to claim a single trophy in over a decade at Spurs, Kane’s
opting for Bayern over many other would-be suitors was seemingly a
no-brainer given the club’s domination of the Bundesliga.
However, following an in the German Cup and the aforementioned league
failings, it became a real possibility that Kane was set to go yet
another season scooping the game’s most coveted individual awards,
rather than the collective titles every player dreams of securing.
With seven goals and three assists in the Champions League this season,
there is now a distinct possibility that Harry Kane returns to London
on June 1 to compete in this year’s final at Wembley.
Kane described getting the better of Arsenal as an “unbelievable
win.”
“It’s been a tough season for us,” the 30-year-old Kane told TNT
Sports. “We’ve had to fight and grind it out at times. We knew we
could make the difference with our fans at home. It was a tough game, a
tight game. It was a great goal from Josh [Kimmich]. To reach the
semifinals is a great achievement for us and we can enjoy it.
“I think in these types of games the first half is always a bit
cagey,” added Kane. “We said at half-time we wanted to up the
tempo, be aggressive. We had a couple off the post and could have made
it easier for ourselves, but these games are always tough and you just
have to get through them.
“The expectation here is to try and win the Champions League. We won
the league for 11 years in a row, so maybe there was a bit of tempo
missing. That can’t happen. Now, we have to enjoy the Champions
League and try to get ready for Saturday.”
Sport very rarely throws up such well-written narrative arcs. But if
there is one man who can help Kane stick to script, it might just be
Tuchel.
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