Three of Bayern Munich’s senior figures did something Sunday that no one at the club had done since 2012.
They congratulated another team on winning the Bundesliga.
President Herbert Hainer, CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and
sporting director Max Eberl each offered praise for new champion Bayer
Leverkusen and coach Xabi Alonso — who Bayern had been keen to sign — and each
vowed Bayern would fight to reclaim the trophy it held for 11 long years.
“The goal for FC Bayern now is: the trophy must come back to
Munich!” Hainer wrote.
The question is how.
Bayern didn’t just lose the Bundesliga title to Leverkusen,
it lost it by 16 points with five games to go. Bayern wrapped up the crown that
early only three times in its 11-year reign. That means a comprehensive rebuild
is looming.
Bayern’s 2023-24 season isn’t over yet, and coach Thomas
Tuchel could yet salvage some pride in the Champions League before he leaves.
It’s not impossible that Wednesday’s quarterfinal second leg against Arsenal,
poised at 2-2, could be Bayern’s next step to the June 1 final and a first
trophy for Harry Kane.
Despite the jibes on social media about how the England
captain managed to join Germany’s perennial champion team and still not win a
league title, Kane has been a resounding success in Munich with 39 goals in the
Bundesliga and Champions League.
A year ago, Bayern’s need for a striker was clear when the
team held onto the Bundesliga on goal difference as a strong Borussia Dortmund
challenge crumbled.
Tuchel, though, argued Bayern needed a defensive midfielder
as well, and was concerned that the central pairing of Leon Goretzka and Joshua
Kimmich were both too keen to make impactful attacking runs, leaving a gap.
After wrapping up the Kane deal in August for over $100 million, Bayern
switched focus to Fulham defensive midfielder Joao Palhinha and even got him to
Munich for a medical before the deal broke down.
With Eberl heading into his first transfer window in overall
charge of Bayern’s sporting approach, he will have to decide how to fix the
problem Tuchel identified a year ago, and how much to allow the club’s new
coach — whoever that may be — to shape the team.
Eberl may also need to replace left back Alphonso Davies,
whose contract is due to expire at the end of next season amid reported
interest from Real Madrid. He’s one of seven starters from Bayern’s 2020
Champions League final win who are still at the club and whose places in the
lineup — with the exception of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer — no longer seem quite
as secure.
What will be harder to replace is Bayern’s aura of
invincibility, For years, would-be challengers — especially Dortmund — tended
to fall apart in big games against Bayern. Some years, the Bundesliga title
seemed decided almost before the season began. Then Leverkusen showed Bayern
can be beaten, and other teams like Dortmund followed suit.
Bayern needs a new coach, perhaps some new players, and its
old image back. AP
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