Crowded schedule ‘not good for the game’, says Bayern’s Tuchel

Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel on Thursday hit out at the crowded fixture list, saying it was “not for the good of the game and not for the good of the players”.

Bayern play at Cologne in the Bundesliga on Friday, just 24 hours after some of their first XI, including Canada’s Alphonso Davies and South Korea’s Kim Min-jae, returned to Munich following the international break.

While confirming injured players Jamal Musiala and Matthijs de Ligt would be missing on Friday, Tuchel said members of his squad were “tired mentally and exhausted physically”.

“It’s about television rights and the TV stations can choose their teams. We were talking about it, it’s the second time we play Friday away,” he said.

“Alphonso and Min-Jae are returning today from very long journeys and it’s obviously very unfortunate scheduling.

“It will be spoken of as an excuse but if you’ve heard Jurgen Klopp, they’re playing on Saturday at 12:30 against Man City, we are playing tomorrow (Friday) away.

“It’s borderline, or maybe even over the line already.”

Bayern also faced league leaders Bayer Leverkusen on a Friday immediately after an international break in September, drawing 2-2 — one of only two occasions in the league this season where the German champions have dropped points.

Bayern and Borussia Dortmund both had five players in the Germany squad for the recent round of friendlies, the most of any clubs.

Besides tiredness, Bayern’s Germany contingent return having lost both friendlies, 3-2 to Turkey in Berlin and 2-0 to Austria in Vienna.

Bayern midfielder Leroy Sane was given a straight red card for pushing an opponent to the ground in Tuesday’s loss to Austria and Tuchel said: “I could see it coming.

“That’s what I told Leroy. You could feel that he was unhappy and he couldn’t hold back if he was provoked.

“I trust Leroy. It’s all human. It shouldn’t happen obviously but it has.”

Bayern, still unbeaten in the league this season, sit in second place behind Leverkusen while Cologne are one spot off the bottom of the table.