Matthijs de Ligt has encountered a challenging season at Bayern Munich. He initially fell out of favor with coach Thomas Tuchel and then suffered an injury setback during his first start of the season. This happened to be a 7-0 victory over VfL Bochum. Although he scored in that match, he had to be substituted at halftime due to a knee problem. Thus, subsequently sidelining him for a few weeks, affecting both his club and international commitments.
In Bayern’s 3-1 Bundesliga victory over Mainz, De Ligt played a full 90 minutes, starting alongside Kim Min-jae in defense. Thomas Tuchel had to field this defensive combination due to the shortage of available options. Key players like Upamecano, Noussair Mazraoui, and Raphaël Guerreiro were still in the sidelines with injuries. Tuchel also faced the challenge of starting Konrad Laimer at right-back on several occasions this season. However, later in the second half, Bouna Sarr took over the right-back role when he replaced Leon Goretzka.
What did Tuchel say after Bayern victory over Mainz?
Following the victory over Mainz, Tuchel essentially confirmed that Upamecano, Guerreiro, and Mazraoui will remain unavailable for the midweek Champions League fixture against Galatasaray. This leaves him with little choice but to pair De Ligt with Kim once more in the starting lineup.
Tuchel said: “He (De Ligt) has to [play every three days for now]. We have to say that. We have no other choice because Upa is out.”
Starting De Ligt after his recent return from a knee issue is a somewhat calculated risk for Bayern. However, Tuchel has not many options at the moment. In the first round of the DFB-Pokal, he deployed a center-back pairing of Goretzka and Mazraoui due to the unavailability of other players. This approach might be more acceptable against a team like SC Preußen Münster, but it poses greater challenges when facing Bundesliga or Champions League opponents like Bayern.
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