Thomas Tuchel suggested Bayern Munich ‘weren’t surprised’ by the qualities of Lazio and underlined the task ahead of his side.
The Bavarian giants have come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, having suffered an unexpected 1-0 loss to the Biancocelesti in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie last month.
Bayern have also started to seriously lose ground in the Bundesliga title race and now sit 10 points behind Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen with 10 matches left to play. Rumours suggest Tuchel could be sacked should his side crashed out of the Champions League to Lazio.
Speaking in a press conference (via TMW), Tuchel first discussed the importance of Bayern’s match with Lazio and if it could be decisive for his future at the club.
I don’t think so. I can’t speak for the others. I can say that no one has more ambition than me to win the match. The situation is clear. We have to win by two goals against an Italian team. Pressure is also part of performing at the highest level.
Pressure is necessary to do extraordinary things. We need to win, and do it against a well-organised Sarri team. We hope that the fans and the atmosphere will give us the push to reach the goal of winning with a two-goal margin.
He touched on the mindset in the Bayern squad and the approach needed against the Biancocelesti.
The team are receiving a lot of support. This is my work and my belief. Last time we helped them with a change of playing style. We need to be a little more aggressive in our challenges. The team will continue to receive support, it’s a time when things are tough.
The desire is clearly visible. The important thing is to be there from the first minute, patience is needed. It’s about not getting frustrated, not losing your head, not opening up completely. Losing our formation against Freiburg meant having to face many counterattacks.
We have no time to waste. We have 90 minutes. We can’t wait to attack. Time is in Lazio’s favour. We need a mix of clarity and energy. You should be able to see right from the start that we want to score.
The German coach commented on the qualities of Bayern star Harry Kane.
He doesn’t need any further motivation. He has a great impact on every team, on every player. He’s not very outspoken, he doesn’t talk too much, but he does things in a very focused way.
It’s a pleasure to have him on the team, a gift to be his coach. He will play the part. We can count on him 100%.
Tuchel was asked if he was surprised by the qualities of Lazio in their first meeting last month.
No, we weren’t surprised by Lazio’s strength and approach. We will try to play more aggressively. We need more conviction. In the second half we made too many errors on the counter. Their last games in the league matter a lot.
We have them seen and analysed them obviously. We need to start the match with courage and passion and continue like this for 90 minutes to put them under pressure. Talking about titles doesn’t make you win titles.
We need to train well and play well. We definitely need a stadium full of emotions. It’s up to us to convey that emotion to the players, we need a top performance.
Finally, Tuchel touched on some of Bayern’s issues recently and the dangers of Lazio star Ciro Immobile.
The problem we’ve had this season is that we haven’t had the chance to play with the same back four. We’ve always performed well as a team. Lately we’ve conceded too many goals due to our mistakes.
We know Ciro Immobile, we kept him good for long stretches in the first leg. It wouldn’t surprise me if Lazio played on the counterattack. We need a lot of ball possession and good defence when we attack, and all this in the space of 90 minutes at a very high level.
