Uli Hoeneß and Thomas Tuchel expose divisions at Bayern Munich before Real Madrid clash

BERLIN (AP) — If Bayern Munich wanted to present a united front before it hosts Real Madrid for the first leg of their Champions League semifinal, it has failed.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel said on Saturday his honor as coach has been insulted by club powerbroker Uli Hoeneß.

Hoeneß, now Bayern’s honorary president after more than 40 years at the forefront of the club, suggested on Friday that Tuchel was not capable of helping young players develop.

“He doesn’t think he can improve a Davies, Pavlović or Musiala. If it doesn’t work, you should buy someone else,” Hoeneß said during a panel discussion hosted by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. “I think you should work hard on them and give them confidence.”

Hoeneß said he expects a coach to “improve young players.”

Alphonso Davies, Aleksandar Pavlović and Jamal Musiala are all young players who have featured prominently for Bayern this season. The 19-year-old Pavlović made his debut under Tuchel in an 8-0 rout of Darmstadt last October and has since been called up by Germany.

Davies and Pavlović entered as substitutes in Bayern’s win over Frankfurt on Saturday and are likely to play against Madrid on Tuesday, while Musiala is battling to be fit for the match.

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Tuchel said Hoeneß’ comments “are so far removed from reality that there’s no … I don’t know how I should answer. On the one hand it insults my honor as a coach, because I think we’ve shown as a coaching team for the last 15 years that young players, especially from the academy, always, always, always have a place with us in training and that they have a place on the field with their performances.”

Tuchel is set to leave Bayern at the end of the season after both club and coach agreed in February to end their collaboration after a run of three games without a win. Bayer Leverkusen subsequently won the Bundesliga, ending Bayern’s 11-year reign as champion, but Tuchel could yet lead the club to Champions League glory.

Many Bayern fans have signed a petition calling on the club to keep Tuchel in charge instead of hiring Ralf Rangnick, the favorite to take over after rejections from Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso, Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann and Aston Villa’s Unai Emery.

But there’s little chance of Tuchel staying, even if the club powerbrokers changed their minds.

Tuchel told Sky TV he had “very little understanding” for Hoeneß’ “absolutely baseless” comments.

“It’s so far removed from reality that I wouldn’t have reacted to it at all if it hadn’t come from Uli Hoeneß. If it hadn’t come from Uli, then I would have said, ‘Guys, it’s not even worth talking about,’” Tuchel said. “Because it’s from Uli, because it’s from our boss, because it’s four days before the game against Real Madrid, it’s judged a bit differently.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer