Thomas Tuchel – CaughtOffside

Bayern Munich team news vs FC Koln

Connor Holden — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 10:00:16 +0000

Koln (17th in the Bundesliga) take on Bayern (2nd in the Bundesliga) on Friday 24th of November, at the RheinEnergieStadion, at 19:30 PM (GMT).

The last time the two sides faced, Bayern beat Koln 2-1. Goals from Kingsley Coman and Jamal Musiala for Bayern, and a goal from Dejan Ljubicic for Koln.

Koln drew their last Bundesliga game, drawing 1-1 with VfL Bochum. Goals were scored by Davie Selke for Koln, and Lukas Daschner for Bochum.

Bayern won their last Bundesliga game, beating Heidenheim 4-2 at the Allianz Arena. Goals from Harry Kane (x2), Raphael Guerreiro and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting for Bayern, and goals from Tim Kleindienst and Jan-Niklas Beste for Heidenheim.

How to watch FC Koln vs Bayern Munich

Date: Friday, November 24th, 2023
Kickoff: 19:30 PM (GMT)
TV Network: TNT Sport
Venue: RheinEnergieStadion

Team News:

Bayern will be without Matthijs de Ligt, Tarek Buchmann, Jamal Musiala and Tom Hulsmann through injury.

Predicted XI:

Koln: Schwabe, Heintz, Chabot, Hubers, Carstensen, Kainz, Martel, Maina, Uth, Waldschmidt, Selke.

Bayern: Neuer, Davies, KIM, Upamecano, Mazraoui, Kimmich, Laimer, Coman, Muller, Sane, Kane.

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Harry Kane’s special Bayern Munich contract clause that will reward success that eluded him at Tottenham

Jason Pettigrove — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 07:30:05 +0000

Harry Kane has really been enjoying himself in Bavaria with his switch from Tottenham Hotspur to Bayern Munich already proving to be a resounding success.

In just 15 games in all competitions in the 2023/24 campaign, he already has 21 goals and seven assists to his name, per WhoScored.

That’s included a hat-trick of hat-tricks and 12 goals plus three assists in his last seven games.

Calling it a hot streak hardly does his opening few months in Germany justice.

He’s already made history thanks to his rate of scoring, and though Bayern still trail Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, if Kane continues to find the net across the campaign, it’s surely a foregone conclusion that the England captain will be firing his club to yet another German top-flight title.

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Whether or not Kane finally breaks his silverware duck with a Bundesliga win, he’ll almost certainly cash in with a very special reward thanks to a clause in his contract.

According to SportBILD’s Christian Falk, if the striker manages to score 40 goals across the season in all competitions, he will earn himself a cool €250,000 extra.

Our Story: Harry Kane has a special clause in his contract @FCBayern: If the striker has more than 40 scorer-points across all competitions in one season, he should receive a further payment of 250,000 € @SPORTBILD @altobelli13

— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) November 14, 2023

The 30-year-old is fast becoming as much of a talisman for Bayern as he was for the north Londoners, and with more than half of the season left to play, hitting the 40-goal target looks to be a very achievable mark at this stage.

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“Of course” – Bayern Munich confirm continued interest in Premier League ace

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 13:54:39 +0000

Only Xabi Alonso’s epic start with Bayern Leverkusen this season is keeping Bayern Munich from riding high at the top of the Bundesliga table.

Even Harry Kane’s record-breaking scoring streak hasn’t been enough to see the Bavarians looking down at the rest of the German top-flight, such has been the brilliance of Leverkusen’s free-flowing football.

Bayern were always likely to strengthen mid-season in any event, and that their best hasn’t yet been good enough is even more of a reason to enter the market once it opens again for business.

On the final day of the summer transfer window, everything seemed in place for the Bavarians to acquire Fulham’s highly-rated midfielder, Joao Palhinha.

It’s even believed that the player had sorted official pictures of him in the Bayern kit, only for the deal to fall through at the 11th hour.

Palhinha noted how much it affected him, per O Jogo (h/t Sky Sports).

“I don’t know what will happen in the future. Obviously, it’s really affected me and my family, but that’s all in the past, I don’t want to think about it too much,” he said.

“It’s a great source of pride, you know what happened. In my life everything that has happened has been for a reason, I like to think of it like that.

“The future will tell me whether what happened was really what had to happen or not, but only the future will show me that.”

Fortunately for the player, it appears that all is not lost and the deal isn’t dead in the water.

“Of course, he is still on our radar. The club worked intensively with Palhinha in the summer,” Bayern Munich sporting director Christoph Freund told BILD (h/t Sky Sports).

“I was there for the bit on the last, strange day of the transfer window, but you can’t say yet what will happen. We are generally exploring the market.”

Fulham appeared to have safeguarded their position with the offer of the new contract though it would appear unlikely that it will cause the move to fall through again, even if there may be a handful of extra hoops to jump through.

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Thomas Tuchel compares the style and quality between English and German football

Jake Staniland — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 10:16:20 +0000

Thomas Tuchel took over as head coach of Bayern Munich last spring after a challenging start at Chelsea, where he had previously won the Champions League in his initial season. Having had recent experience with both leagues, the German manager shared his thoughts on the differences between football in England and Germany.

“Mentally, physically and psychologically, it’s at the highest level [the Premier League]. That isn’t necessarily an advantage for the English teams, however, because playing in that competition is extremely stressful and then they also have to play in Europe. That’s why the teams are expanding. The squads are getting larger, and they rotate a lot more than they did a few years ago,” as captured by @iMiaSanMia

While Bayern is accustomed to the demanding nature of a season-long campaign across multiple competitions, Tuchel’s experience at Chelsea highlighted the importance of pacing themselves, using player rotation at the best opportunities.

Recent developments, such as the utilisation of deep rosters and regular player rotation, have allowed English Premier League (EPL) teams to better manage player workloads, thanks to their financial resources. Tuchel believes this has also brought about a shift in playing style, possibly offering a glimpse into his vision for Bayern’s future.

“Since they have started doing that (rotation), however, the English teams have become very competitive. There has been a trend towards robustness.”

Tuchel singled out Rodri being a prime example due to his physical style of play in the Manchester City midfield.

Having already beaten Manchester United at the Allianz, they get the chance to do the double over Erik ten Hag’s team at Old Trafford. Bayern will likely have to get a few wins against English teams under their belt if they are to go all the way in the Champions League this season.

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Arsenal had to beat off competition from London duo to land Raya

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 10:19:05 +0000

It would appear that Arsenal’s pursuit of goalkeeper, David Raya, was anything less than straightforward, with a number of other clubs apparently interested, including two from London.

Clearly, an approach from teams within the capital will have appealed to the custodian as it would’ve meant no need to uproot his family, though that wouldn’t necessarily have ruled out approaches from elsewhere.

Raya’s agent, Jaume Munell, explained in an exclusive interview with AFTV, that the Gunners had a long-standing interest in his client and that was the reason that, in the end, he signed for the north London outfit.

“Arsenal showed interest for the first time three years ago in 2021. They tried to buy him but Brentford didn’t want to sell him at any price. After they bought Ramsdale that was an easier option but David has always been the priority,” Munell noted.

“This summer, he had just one year left on his contract with Brentford and Arsenal was the club that showed the most concrete interest and have always been our priority.

“Tottenham also was interested and made an official bid but it was refused because was lower than the 40 million euros that Brentford wanted to sell him, also Bayern Munich was interested and had an amazing offer but with no buy option included and for this reason, we’ve not accepted it.

“Bayern Munich didn’t understand our refusal because they thought that Raya would have been the backup keeper at Arsenal but as you can see it’s not like this. Also Manchester United and Chelsea made an inquiry but nothing concrete.”

Financial Fair Play issues were also the reason behind why the move was a loan rather than permanent transfer this season according to Metro.

Though it was initially believed that Raya was leaving Brentford to challenge Aaron Ramsdale for the Arsenal No.1 shirt, it’s clear now that Arteta’s plan was to install the Spaniard as his preferred choice between the sticks.

It’s entirely possible that if the current status quo doesn’t change, that the England custodian will be on his way out of the club, perhaps even to Chelsea.

Much will depend on whether Arteta continues to prefer Raya over him, which appears likely given that Ramsdale hasn’t had a look in since he lost his place.

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Bayern Munich having serious doubts over transfer of Premier League ace

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 06:55:12 +0000

If things had worked out differently, Bayern Munich would’ve made another signing from the Premier League during the summer window.

As it turned out only Harry Kane arrived from English shores, and what an impact the England captain has made so far.

The former Tottenham Hotspur talisman has 11 goals in 11 games for the Bavarians in all competitions so far according to WhoScored.

At one stage it appeared that Fulham’s Joao Palhinha would be Bundesliga bound, and despite it believed that the player had even posed for photos in a Bayern shirt, the deal wasn’t able to be concluded in time.

Now, as SportBILD note, the entire transfer could be in jeopardy, with Bayern seemingly worried about the combative midfielder’s knee problem.

Joao Palhinha

The outlet do hint at other concerns which has made the hierarchy at the Bavarian club think twice about concluding the deal in the upcoming January transfer window.

Not only will that be a huge blow to the player, who was perhaps looking forward to strutting his stuff in the Champions League and possibly winning the title, but financially for Fulham it’ll be a bitter pill to swallow.

Whatever the party line in public, the Cottagers would arguably benefit from having €65m/£55m (per SportBILD) deposited into club coffers.

Nothing is set in stone as yet and the move could still happen, however, it’s clear that Bayern are being much more cautious now.

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Pep Guardiola has found his long-term De Bruyne replacement for Man City

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 05:48:59 +0000

At 32 years of age and injury prone, Kevin De Bruyne’s future at Man City isn’t as secure as it once was.

The elegant Belgian, so often the fulcrum of everything that Pep Guardiola wants to achieve, has been missing since injuring his hamstring in the opening game of the season against Burnley on August 11.

In the two and a half months since then, it’s clear that City have missed his creativity and energy at times, however, they are sat nicely in second place in the Premier League just two points behind leaders, Tottenham Hotspur, and also have a 100 percent record in the Champions League.

It could be argued that Guardiola’s swashbucklers are doing just fine without De Bruyne, and that, perhaps, they’ll let his contract run its course now – something unthinkable a few months ago.

That could also be because City have found their perfect replacement for him.

According to Sport, the current treble winners are targeting Bayern Munich’s brilliant Jamal Musiala.

Whilst the Bavarians are likely to put up a huge fight to keep the player, he is still, apparently, showing no sign of wanting to sign a new deal with the club.

The outlet note that contract conversations have been ongoing since April, but that the player isn’t convinced by his future role with Bayern.

At present, his contract runs until 2026, however, if there remains no breakthrough in talks, Musiala is likely to be moved on in the next 12-18 months.

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Bayern Munich team news vs Galatasaray

Connor Holden — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 10:44:19 +0000

Galatasaray (2nd in Champions League Group A) take on Bayern (1st in Champions League Group A) on Tuesday 24th of October, at RAMS Park, at 17:45 PM (BST).

The last time these two sides faced in the Champions League, was 1972/73 where Bayern won 7-1 on aggregate over the two legs. This is the only time these two sides have faced in a competitive fixture, and Tuesday will be their second time meeting in this contest.

Galatasaray won their last Champions League game, beating Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford. Goals from Wilfried Zaha, Muhammed Kerem Akturkoglu and Mauro Icardi for Galatasaray, and a brace from Rasmus Hojlund for United.

Bayern also won their last Champions League game, beating Copenhagen 2-1 at Parken Stadium. Goals from Jamal Musiala and Mathys Tel for Bayern, and a goal for Lukas Lerager for Copenhagen.

How to watch Galatasaray vs Bayern

Date: Tuesday, October 24th, 2023
Kickoff: 17:45 PM (BST)
TV Network: TNT Sports
Venue: RAMS Park

Team News:

Bayern will remain without the likes of Manuel Neuer, Dayot Upamecano, Noussair Mazraoui, Gabriel Marusic, Raphael Guerreiro, Leon Goretska, Tarek Buchmann and Serge Gnabry through injury.

Predicted XI:

Galatasaray: Muslera, Tasende, Bardakci, Sanchez, Boey, Torreira, Ayhan, Zaha, Akturkoglu, Tete, Icardi.

Bayern: Ulreich, Davies, Kim, De Ligt, Sarr, Kimmich, Laimer, Coman, Musiala, Sane, Kane.

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20-year-old with 60 goal contributions could see Liverpool in tug-of-war with Europe’s finest

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 21:53:48 +0000

When there’s the opportunity of signing a player that’s just 20 years of age and who has been directly involved in 60 goals in his career already, Liverpool have to be in the conversation for his signature.

Jurgen Klopp has shown how adept he is at bringing through young players, and a possibility of signing Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz isn’t one that should be passed up.

According to Fichajes, the Reds face competition from the likes of Premier League rivals, Man City, Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich, and La Liga’s reigning champions, Barcelona, for his signature and no wonder.

Transfermarkt note the impact he’s had at Leverkusen with those 60 goal contributions, which is astonishing for someone so young in the modern game.

Given Liverpool’s studious knowledge of the transfer market in Germany, it places them at an advantage over the other clubs that are potentially interested.

The Hard Tackle note that Wirtz wants to play for the club at some stage, though they’re unlikely to be able to afford him at this point. Moreover, a squad reshuffle would be needed to accommodate him and that’s not really an option at this moment either.

With a contract at Leverkusen until 2027, there’s no rush for the player to make any sort of rash decisions that could affect his position in Xabi Alonso’s team.

A team that, at present, sit proudly atop the Bundesliga with six wins and a draw from their seven games, scoring 23 and conceding just six, according to the official Bundesliga website.

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Liverpool could benefit from Bayern ace’s contract impasse

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 16:40:04 +0000

Though the transfer window only opens twice a year and for approximately a few weeks, the wheels are being oiled all year round to give teams like Liverpool the best opportunity of being at the head of the queue for when a deal can be struck.

There are still deadline day deals to be done of course, and as injuries occur, late window purchases aren’t uncommon, however, if a club has done their due diligence in the lead up to a window, as the Reds often do, then the agreement and contract signing are something of a formality.

Last summer’s window perhaps wasn’t as busy with incoming transfers as those connected with the club and those who support it may have liked, however, those players that were brought in have been a success by and large.

The quest for continuous improvement and perfection, however, will continue, and any players of the highest quality that become available, have to be of interest to Jurgen Klopp.

One of those may well be 20-year-old Bayern ace, Jamal Musiala.

Our Story: FC Liverpool is interested in Jamal Musiala (20) @FCBayern. His agents are currently not talking to the club about extending his contract (Til 2026) with Bayern @SPORTBILD @altobelli13

— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) October 17, 2023

According to SportBILD’s Christian Falk, Liverpool are interested in the player and, intriguingly, his agents are not speaking with the Bavarian giants about extending his current deal.

Whilst there’s plenty of water that could yet pass under the bridge in this particular situation, there’s arguably no smoke without fire and the Reds may feel they’ve stolen a march on their rivals ahead of a future contract discussion.

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