Bayern Munich posts Lisa Müller’s apology on official website

In the latest bizarre display of hypersensitivity to negative press, Bayern Munich took the very unusual step of posting a news report Lisa Müller’s apology to Niko Kovac over an Instagram post in which she criticized him for waiting “over 70 minutes” before having the “flash of genius” to substitute her husband, Thomas Müller, into the game.

The post in question, naturally enough, was captured by numerous members of the press before it was deleted:

Now the club has published an article titled “Lisa Müller apologizes to Niko Kovac” (FCBayern.de). The brief post reads,

Lisa Müller, wife of Thomas Müller, approached Niko Kovac immediately after the Bundesliga game against SC Freiburg (1:1) while still in the Allianz Arena to apologize for her Instagram post about the substitution of Thomas Müller (71st minute). Kovac accepted her apology.

The club’s public reaction seems indicative of how seriously the minor faux pas was received internally. While Kovac himself declined to comment, Thomas Müller was characteristically relaxed,

It was brought to my attention in the meantime. I think it was an emotional response. I don’t think it’s its very felicitous either now in hindsight. But she just loves me. What can I do?

Bild among other news outlets has collected the takes of various pundits and commentators for their criticism of the gesture and Bayern’s response. Halil Altintop concluded, with considerable exaggeration, that Lisa Müller had “harmed the entire club.” Marcel Reif meanwhile echoed the opinion of this writer yesterday in concluding,

The reason why the photo was put online at all isn’t coincidence. My wife wouldn’t have hit upon such an idea unless we had talked with one another beforehand.

Perhaps the suspicion that Thomas Müller has voiced criticism of Kovac in private to his wife is why Bayern is now seemingly determined to squash the story so publicly. A tempest in a Maßkrug if there ever was one.

UPDATE: Lisa Müller unfollows Thomas and deletes photos of him on Instagram

But wait, there’s more! As spotted by our own Gopika CPB, Lisa Müller has taken the additional step of unfollowing her husband’s Instagram account and deleting photos of him from her own. Yikes!