THOMAS TUCHEL sees many similarities between Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
It is doing Erik ten Hag some favour to put these two wounded beasts of European football on the same level right now.
3Thomas Tuchel sees plenty of similarities between Bayern Munich and Man UtdCredit: EPA
3Like Bayern Munich, Man Utd suffered a humbling defeat at the weekendCredit: Rex
Either that or Bavarian beer is stronger than previously thought.
For while Tuchel’s Munich team is capable of the odd slip — albeit a painful one like Saturday’s 5-1 humbling here at Eintracht Frankfurt — not many managers are kind enough or daft enough to draw comparisons with the serial crises at Old Trafford.
An hour or so before Ten Hag’s haphazard team were smashed 3-0 at home by little Bournemouth, Bayern Munich were winded by their heaviest Bundesliga defeat in four years.
It is the kind of mishap that can happen to the best in driving rain against game opposition in a volatile atmosphere. And it came after a run of six successive league victories.
Bayern are still only three points off the top and already through to the Champions League last 16 as they head to Manchester for tomorrow’s final Group A game with Harry Kane looking to vent his frustration.
Saturday was a massive off day for the England captain, who has scored 22 goals for his new club since August, including three hat-tricks and a spectacular halfway-line lob.
What Ten Hag would not give for those numbers and that sort of player.
In the Champions League, United have tossed away more leads than Battersea Dogs Home, humbled twice by European middleweights Galatasaray and overrun by Copenhagen.
The Red Devils are tumbling out of Europe altogether tomorrow unless they can get up off the deck and stun the German champions.Tuchel spoke exclusively to SunSport moments after the final whistle blew on his miserable day in Frankfurt.
And when asked if the two titans of European football are like wounded beasts at present, he replied: “Yeah, true. I analyse them, I see a lot of individual quality and I also see many, many good things.
“But it can happen like they seem completely in the driver’s seat, like in Istanbul and some minutes are enough to shake the whole thing up.
“I see a bit of the ups and downs like we had over the last month.
“We got a bit more stable but I see the same kind of vulnerability in both teams. Things can happen.
“For instance, we were 2-0 down in Leipzig, we struggled a lot. In the first half against Galatasaray and it needed a lot of luck to escape without going behind like today.
“So I have the feeling that there is a bit of a similarity, looking for a level of stability that is not 100 per cent there yet.
“And for us unfortunately, like today we are not 100 per cent there. I am pretty sure we will show a reaction.”
While diplomatic Tuchel is happy to put Manchester United on level pegging with his occasional wobblers, there are not many others who would.
United lost at home to Galatasaray and blew a two-goal lead in Istanbul, Bayern beat the Turks both times and sit eight points clear in Group A. They have won 11 German titles in a row — chugging along in second place in the league is a relative crisis.
Tuchel is predicting a whirlwind response from Bayern at Old Trafford.
He said: “Every defeat is about the reaction. There is no sport without defeat, it’s a heavy one for us.
“I did not see the Manchester United game but the circumstances shows it is clear United need to win.
“It is set for a reaction from our team and we desperately need one. This is what I see but we also have our issues to solve.
“It is not about judging Manchester United, it is about analysing them.
“And in the good moments, they are very, very good and we expect them to be in the best shape.”
3Erik ten Hag is coming under increasing pressure at Man UtdCredit: EPA
