Thomas Tuchel, Bayern Munich's coach, delivered an inspiring speech to his players before their UEFA Champions League match against Lazio, which worked like magic as the German team won 3-0 against their Italian rivals yesterday, advancing to the quarter-finals. However, Tuchel paid the price with an injury to his toe. Tuchel, who will leave Bayern at the end of the season after a little over a year in charge, mentioned that he kicked a box in the locker room during his motivational speech to his players, who desperately needed a win to revitalize their season. The Bavarian giant had won only one of their last five matches across all competitions prior to yesterday's game.
Tuchel stated, "The motivational speech before the match cost me my right toe. I was treated immediately, but I didn’t have the courage to take off the shoe because I didn’t think I would wear it again." He spent the match sitting on the bench as his team secured a 3-1 aggregate victory, thanks to a brace from Bayern’s top scorer Harry Kane, along with a goal from veteran Thomas Müller. Tuchel added, "I think the players wondered why I was sitting the whole 90 minutes." Bayern, who have won the last 11 Bundesliga titles, are currently 10 points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen and have also been eliminated from the DFB-Pokal.
