Thomas Tuchel hints at Bayern Munich stay despite departure announcement

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Bayern announced in February that Tuchel is to leave his post at the end of the current season, during which the club have missed out on the Bundesliga title for the first time in 12 years but still have an opportunity to reach the Champions League final.

Asked if that situation was set in stone after Austria boss Ralf Rangnick this week rejected the opportunity to replace him, Tuchel told a press conference: “This is an agreement, so this can’t be changed.”

However, he added: “Well, you can change every contract by mutual consent because we had a contract as well and then we agreed on ending it early, so everything is possible.

“But the answer is the same: the agreement stands and the agreement exists.”

Tuchel’s comments came as he prepared his second-placed team for Saturday’s league trip to Stuttgart and the Champions League semi-final second leg trip to Real Madrid which follows on Wednesday evening.

When it was put to him that the players would be keen to know who will be in charge at the Allianz Arena next season, he replied: “Yes, but I don’t think they want to know in the next five or seven days, so the players are going to be focused on the game tomorrow and the reverse fixture [against Madrid] on Wednesday. That’s the highest priority, for me anyway.”

In the meantime, Tuchel will concentrate only on the task of ensuring the best possible league finish despite acknowledging that second place behind newly crowned champions Bayer Leverkusen could not be considered a success.

He said: “Second place is never a goal for Bayern Munich, but still it’s a big challenge tomorrow to play against Stuttgart. I know what we have to expect tomorrow, it’s going to be very emotional.

“They played relegation games last season and now they are one of the best teams in the league at least and maybe in Europe as well. They are constantly playing at a high level, so that is really impressive.”

Matthijs de Ligt and Jamal Musiala will not travel, but Leroy Sane will and a late decision will be take on Dayot Upamecano.

Stuttgart will welcome the dethroned champions to the MHP Arena having already secured one of the Bundesliga’s five Champions League berths for next season but intent on a top-four finish as they sit third, five points behind Bayern with three games remaining.

Head coach Sebastian Hoeness told a press conference: “It’s unbelievable that we’re going to be playing in the Champions League. It’s something very special.

“But we want to get at least three more points and secure fourth place so that we can say we’ve achieved it in our own right.”