Tuchel defends his substitutions and Neuer after late Bayern agony
Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel has defended substituting stars Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala while his side were leading their Champions League semi-final second at Real Madrid, only to suffer a last-gasp 2-1 defeat.
Fans and media pundits both pointed to Tuchel's decisions as reasons for Bayern dramatic exit, which means they end a season without a trophy for the first time since 2012.
Tuchel, who is leaving the club after the final two Bundesliga games of the season, said he had no choice but to replace them due to fitness problems and that the players themselves indicated they had to come off.
"We started with four attacking players - and they all had to come off the pitch," Tuchel told reporters after missing out on a place in the June 1 final at Wembley against former side Borussia Dortmund.
Serge Gnabry re-injured his hamstring in the first half and will probably now miss Germany's home European Championship in June and July.
Leroy Sané, who has been struggling with a groin problem for weeks, managed until 76 minutes but could play no more, as was the case with Musiala having only come back from injury. Striker Kane was also hurt.
"His back was seizing up," Tuchel added.
The coach bemoaned a season filled with injury problems, saying: "We have only been reacting to injuries and we never had the chance to be proactive."
But Tuchel's comments did not stop the criticism, with former Bayern midfielder Owen Hargreaves telling TNT Sports that Bayern's top stars had to stay on even if they were struggling.
"You cannot take him off,” he said in reference to Kane, who has scored 44 goals this term but ends his first Bayern season yet again without a trophy having never won major silverware previously in his career.
Bayern were unhappy with the officials for botching the proper procedure for offside calls late on but replays suggest they just about got the calls right.
The Germans could also point to a mistake by Manuel Neuer which allowed Joselu to score the first of his two goals on 88 minutes. The keeper had made a string of superb saves before the error.
Tuchel sympathized with his captain.
"Manu keeps hold of the ball 10,000 times out of 10,000. That's the 10,001st time," he said.
