On Thursday morning, FC Bayern set off on their journey home to Munich. What remained of the days at the training camp
On Wednesday evening, Christoph Freund asked with a grin whether everyone had stepped on the gas. The sporting director, for once “only” dressed in Bayern’s red training outfit, held the padel racket in his hand, ready to enter one of the numerous courts on “The Campus” and greeted the reporters approaching him briefly and politely. He was followed by coach Thomas Tuchel, also visibly in a good mood.
After the team’s last training session at the training camp in the Algarve, the Munich managers spent the last few hours playing a game of padel, just like the reporters before them. On the free Tuesday afternoon, Manuel Neuer and Co. even organized an internal club tournament, while Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Thomas Müller, Sven Ulreich and Konrad Laimer fought a duel on the wet golf course.
In terms of team-building, Bayern obviously hit the bull’s eye during the five days in Portugal, with players and coaches all radiating good humor in warm temperatures. And why not? Although the record champions have often left a lot to be desired in terms of play this season, in terms of points (41) they have only been better in the last seven years after 17 matchdays (43) in 2021/22. “We have it in our own hands,” said Tuchel on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the final training session about the championship battle with Leverkusen.
De Ligt and Dier are set to return to training
This was another reason why the coach was almost exuberant as the sun shone down on his neck. The fact that Joshua Kimmich (father for the fourth time) didn’t even make the trip and Eric Dier (father for the first time) left early didn’t seem to bother Tuchel too much, at least outwardly. Although, due to Matthijs de Ligt’s capsule injury, he only had one central defender left in the squad, Dayot Upamecano. If all goes well, both de Ligt and Dier could be back in action at Säbener Straße on Friday – with the temperature expected to be 20 degrees lower.
What else stood out in Quinta do Lago? During the three sessions that were open to the public, the team seemed to heed the coach’s wish for more pace. Time and again, Tuchel gave out loud praise (“I love it! Much better!”) or clearly intervened when he didn’t like something. In addition to a rehearsed overpayment situation via the wings, the coaching team almost exclusively played various forms of play – often without goals
Standard strength with calculation
In Portugal, Tuchel had said before leaving for the training camp, the aim was not to “endlessly string together stresses and strains, but to have time to train standard situations and correct processes, defensively and offensively, in detail”. Whether standards were really still on the program is unclear. The last session was held without public access.
Either way, Munich have little to worry about in this category so far. 14 goals resulting from set pieces (seven from corners, three from free-kicks, three from penalties and one from a throw-in) are the best in the German league, while only Stuttgart and Freiburg have conceded five goals (two from corners, one from a free-kick, one from a throw-in and one from a penalty).
The fact that Tuchel brought his former Chelsea assistant Anthony Barry to FC Bayern at his express request last April is paying off. “It’s an unconfirmed observation of mine over the last few years that the teams that go far, either in tournaments or in championships, are also the teams that dominate the standards,” said Tuchel.
Standard specialist Barry is leading the way here. “The quality with Anthony on the coaching staff is simply at the very highest level. We have improved significantly and are at the level we want to be. The teams that want to win titles also have to dominate set pieces. “
