Speculation is rife Thomas Tuchel could lose his job as Bayern Munich manager unless the Allianz Arena club overturn a 0-1 deficit at home to Lazio in tonight’s Uefa Champions League round of 16 cracker. The Bavarians are enduring a lean spell which has yielded just one victory in five outings to pile pressure on the former Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint Germain coach.
The Bavarians giants have already announced that Tuchel will depart at the end of the current season regardless of whether he replicates his achievement at Chelsea by guiding the stuttering behemoths to their seventh Champions League crown.
Friday’s 2-2 draw with Freiburg which came after losses to Bochum (2-3) and Bayer Leverkusen (0-3) left Bayern Munich trailing Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga leaders by ten points just two months after they were knocked out of the DFB Pokal (German Cup) by third tier Saarbrucken implies Tuchel is firmly on the chopping block.
Injuries have contributed to the malaise afflicting the Bavarians who will be without Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnarby, Noussair Mazraoui, Sacha Boey, Leroy Sane and the suspended Dayot Upamecano. Sane will especially be missed as he has forged a fruitful striking partnership with top scorer Harry Kane.
Konrad Laimer, Alphonse Davies and Eric Chuopo Moting are all pushing for starting slots as TT tries to compensate for the absence of the pace and width brought by Coman, Sane and Gnarby against a Lazio outfit that sits ninth in Italy’s Serie A after winning just four of their last ten outings across all competitions.
Imanol Iguacil’s misfiring Real Sociedad attempt to overturn a 0-2 deficit at home to Paris Saint Germain in tonight’s second round of 16 tie. PSG boss Luis Enrique has courted controversy by substituting top scorer Kylian Mbappe Lottin as the Parisians drew with Stade Rennes and Monaco in French Ligue One.
The Real Madrid bound star will be desperate to thrive on Spanish soil against a Sociedad side missing the creative genius of retired playmaker David Silva and Alexander Sorloth’s goals. Sociedad, who were recently knocked out of Spain’s Copa del Rey in a penalty shoot out by lowly Mallorca, have won just twice in their last ten outings.
TODAY
Bayern Munich v Lazio,
Real Sociedad v Paris Saint Germain
WEDNESDAY
Manchester City v FC Copenhagen,
Real Madrid v RB Leipzig