After the next severe setback in Mainz, the management of FC Bayern Munich is trying to calm the situation. CEO Oliver Kahn once again defended the separation from ex-coach Julian Nagelsmann, President Herbert Hainer ruled out direct consequences from the current serious sporting crisis.
“I’ve always talked about long-term goals,” said Kahn on ZDF’s “Aktuelle Sportstudio” on Saturday evening. It was “not just about the goals for the season” for the German record champions.
After the double-out in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup and in the round of eight in the Champions League – both under the aegis of Tuchel – Bayern suffered a bitter 3-1 defeat at FSV Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga on Saturday conceded and thus lost the lead in the table.
The record champions from Munich had to let Borussia Dortmund pass them on matchday 29. BVB won 4-0 against Eintracht Frankfurt and now has a one-point lead over Bayern.
According to Kahn, a season without even one title would be “of course a disaster for all of us”. But the former world-class goalkeeper also finds himself confronted with severe criticism of his record and with doubts as to whether he is still the right person as CEO.
Kahn emphasized: “There is only one goal for me: to get this season around, namely with the German championship title, in order to then really attack again next season.”
He had previously told the “Bild” newspaper that he was not wasting a second at the moment “worrying about my contract, it’s always about FC Bayern”.
Kahn does not want to “give a millimeter”
Meanwhile, President Herbert Hainer announced that he did not want to deal with possible consequences before the end of the season. “First of all, we are concentrating on the German championship. That will be difficult enough, as we saw today,” he said after the severe setback in the title race on Saturday. “We’ll talk about everything else later,” announced Hainer, who is also the chairman of the supervisory board.
Hainer was disappointed that the team collapsed in the second half after leading 1-0 in the first half. “When you see two halves that are so different and then we collapse like that, it’s difficult to explain,” said the former business manager.
After the elimination in the quarter-finals in the Champions League against Manchester City and in the DFB Cup against SC Freiburg, there was also strong criticism of the chairman of the board Kahn and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, who are responsible for sport at the record champions. Kahn again emphasized that he would “very gladly” accept the criticism and had “no problem” with it.
“I’ve experienced a lot in my career and I know what it means when things don’t go well at Bayern Munich. We all bear the responsibility, you just have to deal with it now, ”he said in Mainz. “But I will not give up a millimeter here.”
Despite the poor performance, they could become German champions this season. All other chances for the title have been lost under the new coach Thomas Tuchel.
But Kahn made it clear where he saw the problem: “In the end, there are eleven men who are on the pitch and who have to work their butts off for the goals of this club. That’s what football is about and nothing else.” (dpa)
