Thomas Tuchel relieved after Bayern Munich snag late victory over FC Heidenheim

Thomas Tuchel opted to rotate heavily ahead of Bayern Munich’s encounter with FC Heidenheim.

Aleksandar Pavlović earned his first Bundesliga start, while Bouna Sarr got a rare run-out at left-back. Thomas Müller, Konrad Laimer and Serge Gnabry rounded off the five changes to the starting line-up that dispatched Galatasaray on Wednesday evening.

Despite the changes, Bayern got off to a strong start. It only took fourteen minutes for The Bavarians to break the deadlock following Harry Kane’s glorious finish on the pivot. Kane then doubled his tally on the stroke of half-time, heading home from a Leroy Sane corner and completing a mostly dominant first half.

From the second half, things got a little bit dicey. Bayern looked visibly fatigued from the get-go, and mistakes inevitably started creeping in. In the 67th minute, Tim Kleindienst found himself on the end of a deep cross, volleying home to make it 2-1. Just three minutes later, Jan-Niklas Beste’s shot deflected off Kim Min-jae, finding the back of the net and levelling the game at 2-2.

Thomas Tuchel offered some insight into Bayern’s loss of concentration.

“We knew that after such a tough week with a late mid week game and early kick-off today, we’d feel the difference. The mental and body fitness wasn’t as strong,” Tuchel said, as captured by @iMiaSanMia.

Thankfully, Die Rekordmeister’s strength from the bench came into play. Raphaël Guerreiro volleyed home into an empty net, while Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting headed home from Mathys Tel’s sleek cross; the game ending 4-2 to Bayern.

Despite the shaky second half, Tuchel was satisfied with a win against a very physically strong Heidenheim side.

“We knew Heidenheim were one of the teams that run the most, are disciplined and strong on set pieces — that’s why I’m just happy with the win today,” Tuchel concluded.

Though Bayern will undoubtedly be happy to walk away victorious, they will have one wary eye on horizon as the international break — which carries the potential for further fatigue and a fresh set of injuries — approaches.

Heart still pounding from the game? Why not check out our post-game podcast? Cyler is here to run down the ins and outs of Thomas Tuchel’s latest setup, individual performances, Bayern Munich’s fatigue worries, and the state of the Bundesliga title race. Check it out on Spotify or below:

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