FC Bayern lost the first leg of the round of 16 in the premier class at Lazio Rome. A win is needed in the second leg in Munich to secure progression.
In order for the plan to work and for Munich to be in the quarter-finals at the end of the evening, the outgoing Bayern coach will start the race with the following line-up:
Tuchel causes a surprise on the defensive: Min-jae Kim is not there from the start, but instead takes a seat on the bench. Matthijs de Ligt starts for this. The Dutchman was still suspended for a yellow card in the 2-2 draw against SC Freiburg and was therefore missing.
Before the game, Tuchel said about the central defender situation on streaming provider Amazon Prime Video: “Upamecano is suspended. Matthijs and Eric played very well against Leipzig, so we left the two of them together. This is a tough decision against Min-jae and has nothing to do with performance reasons either.”
Müller starts – Gnabry back in the squad
Thomas Tuchel also relies on Bayern veteran Thomas Müller from the start. Leroy Sané returns after knee problems for 18-year-old Mathys Tel, who last started against Freiburg. Serge Gnabry is back in the squad for the first time since the beginning of December.
Bayern are under a lot of pressure before the game against the Romans – and they know it. Matthijs de Ligt said at the press conference: “We’re all in this shit together and we have to get out of it together.” Tuchel emphasized: “A certain amount of pressure is part of a top performance.”
For the German record champions, the Champions League is the last straw to save an otherwise poor season. The team was knocked out of the DFB Cup in November 2023, and in the league FC Bayern is ten points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen.