Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, ending his contract at the reigning Bundesliga champions a year early.
German coach Tuchel was appointed by the six-time European champions in March 2023 but has faced pressure after a run of three consecutive defeats in all competitions.
Second-placed Bayern are eight points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who beat them 3-0 at the BayArena on February 10.
“We have agreed to end our collaboration after this season,” said Tuchel. “Until then, my coaching staff and I will continue to give our all.”
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Bayern chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen said the agreement had been mutual and described talks between the club and Tuchel as an “open and constructive conversation”.
“Our aim is to embark on a new sporting direction with a new coach for the 2024/25 season,” added Dressen.
“Until then, every individual within the club is expressly called upon to achieve the maximum in both the Champions League and the Bundesliga.
“I particularly emphasise the responsibility of the team. Especially in the Champions League, we are confident that… we will advance to the quarter-finals in the return leg [against Lazio] at our fully-packed Allianz Arena with the support of our fans.“
New direction for the new season: FC Bayern and Thomas Tuchel to end their working relationship in the summer.
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— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) February 21, 2024
Tuchel to leave Bayern: Lazio decider awaits
Bayern won five and drew one of their Champions League group-stage games this season to comfortably top a group including Manchester United, but their knockout campaign began in underwhelming fashion when they failed to produce a shot on target in a 1-0 defeat at their Italian opponents.
That setback came five days after the thrashing at Leverkusen and condemned Bayern to their first back-to-back defeats since December 2019, when Hansi Flick was in caretaker charge.
Top scorer Harry Kane, who was signed by Tuchel in August, is among Bayern’s stars who underperformed in front of their clearly-frustrated manager in Rome.
“We’re in a difficult spell,” Kane told TNT Sports afterwards, reflecting on a “tough week”. “We have to fight. We have to turn it round.”
Tuchel’s hopes of repeating his triumph in the competition with Chelsea in 2020/21 now depend on a considerably improved performance by his side in the return leg of the round of 16 tie on March 5.
The 50-year-old former defender was sacked by the Blues in September 2022, having also won the Super Cup and Club World Cup during his 20 months at Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel won Ligue 1 in both of his seasons at previous club Paris St-Germain between 2018 and 2020, as well as reaching the 2019/20 Champions League final, in which PSG lost to Bayern.
