New Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel was in no mood for big celebrations after his team’s 4-2 victory over Bundesliga title rivals and former team Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, saying there was room for improvement.
Tuchel returned to the Bundesliga to take over at Bayern after they sacked Julian Nagelsmann with the team second in the standings and in the quarter finals of the Champions League.
The win lifted Bayern back into top spot on 55, leaving Dortmund two points behind in second place with eight games remaining.
“There’s still room for improvement,” Tuchel, who coached Dortmund from 2015-17 but left on bad terms, told reporters.
“No one should be too euphoric. We are proud of the team and they can be satisfied but there’s work ahead of us.”
Bayern scored three times in the opening 23 minutes to kill off the game early but squandered a bagful of chances in the second half and let in two late goals.
“We gained in confidence with the first goal and led 3-0 early. I would have wished that we were more dominant after that but it was not like that,” Tuchel said.
“After the 4-0 I would have wished more dominance, fewer mistakes. We had a lot of clear chances and should have led with a higher score.”
Tuchel, who won the Champions League for Chelsea in 2021 after replacing Frank Lampard but had been without a job since being sacked by the English side last year, admitted to a bout of nerves before the game.
“I was nervous,” he said. “I did not know the processes, where to find my assistants and it happened all at once and suddenly I was in the arena coaching Bayern Munich.”
Union Berlin struck three times in 17 minutes in the second half to cruise to a 3-0 victory over struggling VfB Stuttgart, tightening their grip on the third spot and staying in the mix for the title.
The sensational Berliners scored on the break with Sheraldo Becker’s eighth league goal of the campaign six minutes after the restart.
Kevin Behrens then doubled their advantage from close range in the 65th. His effort was initially overruled by VAR but that decision was subsequently corrected.
