- Thomas Tuchel’s substitutions backfired as Bayern Munich lost to Real Madrid
- Tuchel took off Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala when his side were leading
- Another nightmare… which players are to blame and should Thomas Tuchel come in? Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off! Man United Crisis Special podcast
Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel was crticised by Owen Hargreaves for substituting Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala at a key moment in his side’s Champions League semi-final away to Real Madrid.
With the teams level at 2-2 from the first leg, Bayern had put themselves ahead in the tie through Alphonso Davies’ goal in the 68th minute.
However, Tuchel bizarrely elected to take off Kane and Musiala with five minutes of normal time remaining, with Thomas Muller and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting replacing them.
The decision backfired, with Real Madrid equalising shortly afterwards through a substitute of their own in Joselu.
In stoppage time Joselu found the net again as Real Madrid made it through to the final.
Hargreaves described the decision to take Kane off as ‘one off the biggest subs I’ve ever seen’.
Speaking on TNT Sports, Hargreaves said: ‘I’ll tell you what was unexpected, Harry Kane going off the pitch. That’s one of the biggest subs I’ve ever seen in a game of football of that magnitude.
‘To take off a guy that’s scored 44 goals, who is the most durable player pretty much anywhere and you bring on another striker in Choupo-Moting. Maybe he wanted height for corners, I don’t know.
‘You cannot take him off. There’s five minutes left in the game, there’s ten minutes of extra-time, 15 minutes. I said to Scholesy straight away, they’re going to score.’
Hargreaves stated that Bayern had the game in their hands but ‘let it go’.
He said: ‘That’s one of the biggest calls. I love Thomas Tuchel. I don’t know why they made that call. Kim came on ten minutes before that and they were quite comfy. They went from a back four to a back three. Bayern had it in their hands and they let it go. The mistake from Neuer obviously but everybody’s going to be talking about the subs, you cannot take Harry Kane off.’
Ex-Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes described Tuchel’s substitutions as ‘strange’ and added that Bayern were ‘comfortable until that point’.
Scholes said: ‘It ended up a game of substitutions. Good ones for Real Madrid. Joselu with the two goals, brilliant. Wins his team the game. Neuer makes a huge mistake which he’ll be disappointed with.
‘I thought Tuchel’s substitutions were strange. Kane was strange. Even if they get one goal, there’s still extra-time, penalties to come as well, you know how strong he is.
‘Kim was the stranger one. I thought they looked quite comfortable in the game up until that point. They go to three at the back. Kim coming off last week was a disaster for him and again he looked a little bit all over the place.’
Former England cricketer Stuart Broad was also amongst those to criticise Tuchel.
Broad wrote on X: ‘Why would you take Harry Kane off?’.
Another user was heavily critical of Tuchel as they wrote: ‘Taking off Leroy Sane, Jamail Musiala & Harry Kane while leading 1-0 at Santiago Bernabéu is just asking for trouble.’
One user joked that Tuchel’s bizarre substitutions could land him the Manchester United job.
They wrote: ‘Thomas Tuchel doing his best Manchester United 23/24 impression by conceding 2 in quick succession.
‘This guy has passed the audition.’
Another user hit out at Tuchel’s game management.
They wrote: ‘Tuchel’s in game management ruined this whole game, Bayern were defending well? Why change the formation’.
Furthermore, one user stated that the substitutions don’t bode well for Tuchel’s future job prspects.
They wrote: ‘That Kane substitution should rule Tuchel out of the Hull City job, never mind the United one.’
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.