February 15 – Bayern Munich have condemned racist insults directed at France defender Dayot Upamecano on social media after their 1-0 Champions League defeat at Lazio on Wednesday.
Upamecano gave away the 69th-minute penalty from which Ciro Immobile netted the only goal of the last 16, first-leg clash in Rome with a clumsy foul on Gustav Isaksen which cost him a red card.
“FC Bayern strongly condemn the racist comments being directed towards Dayot Upamecano on social media,” said the German champions on X, formerly Twitter.
“Anyone who comments hateful words such as these is no fan of our club.”
Bayern will have a chance to overturn their slender deficit when they host Lazio, whose fans have a history of racist behaviour, for the second leg on March 5 in Munich.
But the defeat increased the pressure on boss Thomas Tuchel especially following Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen that saw the reigning champions fall five points behind Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga leaders.
Tuchel’s side also suffered a shock second-round German Cup exit to third division minnows Saarbrucken in November.
None of this is what former Tottenham striker Harry Kane joined Bayern to experience.
The England captain has been rattling in the goals in Germany but his burning desire to win trophies may have to wait for at least another season with the perennial national champions in grave danger of missing out this time.
Tuchel, meanwhile, insists he is not worried about being forced out.
“No, I’m not worried about my future or [the] potential sack,” he said. “We did everything to lose this match. It was in our hands. At a certain point we stopped believing, I’ve no idea why. There were many individual mistakes.”
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