Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich defeated their rivals Borussia Dortmund 4-2 in his debut game as coach, he recognizes that there is still much work to be done
Tuchel took over the coaching role from Julian Nagelsmann during the international break and led Bayern in the Klassiker match against his former team.
Dortmund had previously won nine out of their first ten league games in 2023, which had left them at the top of the Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich overtook Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga table in an impressive fashion with a 4-2 victory in Thomas Tuchel’s first game as coach.
Tuchel admits nervousness before Der Klassiker
The reigning champions were 3-0 up in the first 23 minutes thanks to a mistake from Gregor Kobel and a double by Thomas Muller before Kingsley Coman added a fourth goal shortly after halftime.
While Emre Can and Donyell Malen scored consolation goals for Dortmund, Bayern are now the strong favorites to win their 11th straight Bundesliga title. According to Opta, their chances of becoming champions again are rated at 87.7 percent.
Despite the great start to his tenure, Tuchel insists there is still much work to do if Bayern are to get where he wants them to be, telling Sky TV: “I was very nervous today. It was a good first step but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
“It was a bit too wild, we wanted to have more dominance. We started very nervously. The whole game was actually too sloppy with too many ball losses.
“We have a lot to analyze. The team is extremely willing to learn. I understand that some things haven’t worked out yet. All in all, it was too many turnovers that made life difficult for us. We want to be in possession.
“It’s a bit like a band or an orchestra. We have to find our rhythm.”
Bayern Munich’s decision to sack Julian Nagelsmann came as a surprise, given that the team was in the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the time.
“Everyone was aware of what was at stake here. A change of coach always brings unrest, there was a lot to absorb,” Tuchel added.
“The will to implement everything was there 100 percent. That’s the most important.
“When we played calmly and clearly, we had top-class chances. We have leaders, and that will give us peace and confidence.”
