Thomas Tuchel settling in at Bayern Munich despite juggling lineup on a daily basis

After getting battered by Manchester City in the Champions League, Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel was probably just hoping for a quiet flight home and some downtime to think about how to rebound.

Things have not worked out that way.

Starting striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is still injured and the well-publicized locker room smacking of Leroy Sané by Sadio Mané created a whole other level of distraction for the already reeling squad.

Oh, and Bayern Munich still has to deal with a rejuvenated Hoffenheim team this weekend in the Bundesliga — a competition that is far from wrapped up.

It has been a hell of a few days.

“Choupo is out of tomorrow’s game. Otherwise, everyone else is fit. The starting XI is still a bit early for Mathys Tel. He’s a candidate for 20-30 minutes depending on how the game goes. He is a candidate for the striker position,” Tuchel said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “I like to have Thomas a line behind the striker. Serge found quite good spaces, but was sloppy under pressure and made a few technical mistakes. We had a lot of chances against Freiburg and Dortmund. I didn’t expect to have many big chances against City.”

Tuchel knows that the team cannot let the outside noise seep in to create any distractions as Hoffenheim will clearly be ready to play.

“Now we need a top performance on Saturday. Then we need a bit of luck and momentum on our side. Even after the video analysis, I’m sticking with what I said: I’m very happy with the first 70 minutes. We were unlucky not to get rewarded during our good phases,” the coach remarked.

Lineup decisions, a title race, and locker room brawls aside, Tuchel is loving his new gig.

“It’s very intense. From the outside, it seems like there’s much more unrest than it actually is. It’s not the first time in my coaching career that such things have happened in the dressing room. That’s part of football,” Tuchel said. “Internally, the atmosphere within the team and the staff is open, friendly and warm. This is a highly professional and quiet club with good communication. It’s very intense because we try to get a team committed to one style with almost no training. I love this job. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work at this level. Now I want to leave my mark here. That is only possible together with the staff and of course the players.”