Well, this whole story just keeps getting stranger. Seemingly out of nowhere, Bayern Munich sacked their coach/manager and hired former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel within minutes. Apparently, the move was just as surprising for the (now former) coach as it was for the rest of us. He was still on holiday, skiing in Austria when he got the news.

According to the report, the bosses came to the decision that the 10 dropped points in 2023 were down to the coach and saw the goals of the season in danger. They decided that the international break was the perfect time to change the coach and opted to bring in Thomas Tuchel as soon as possible. Tuchel will lead Bayern training for the game against Borussia Dortmund starting on Monday.

Bayern felt that Tuchel would soon be removed from the pool of potential replacements. Both Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur were interested in the former Chelsea coach, and the club didn’t want to miss out.

This is a sudden and unexpected end to Julian Nagelsmann’s Bayern Munich tenure, one that no one could’ve seen coming at this point of the season. There were claims there were backroom tensions at Bayern between Nagelsmann and the board but even so, do make a major decision like this entering the final stretch of the season is a massive gamble. For the context of where Nagelsmann has led this club this season – they are the only team in Europe to boast a perfect record in the Champions League still having scored 22 goals and allowing just two (!) goals up to this point. Did I mention they just knocked out PSG beating them both at home and in Paris without conceding a goal? Bayern does have arguably the toughest test a team could face next, having to take on Manchester City in the quarterfinals just over two weeks from now. If anything, that would be even more reason for Bayern to wait until the end of the season to change coaches.

Tuchel’s first match for Bayern will be next Saturday when they host Borussia Dortmund. Bayern trail Dortmund by one point in the Bundesliga. Although there are six games remaining after the match, it is widely thought that whoever wins this match will go on to win the Bundesliga this year. Tuchel was also the former coach for Dortmund to add to the storylines. To summarize, Tuchel’s first match for Bayern will in a way decide if Bayern will make it 11 straight Bundesliga titles. Talk about pressure.

The real question now is if Tuchel loses to Dortmund and fails to move on past Manchester City in the Champions League, does Tuchel make it to next season? At this point, it’s anyone’s guess.