Emmanuel Thomas l Sunday, April 23, 2023
MAINZ- Bayern president Herbert Hainer has hinted at future consequences after their season suffered another blow.
The defending champions lost 3-1 at Mainz on Saturday, allowing Borussia Dortmund to take over at the top of the Bundesliga with five games left to play.
Bayern have won the title for 10 seasons straight but Dortmund are now in pole position after a 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at home.
Champions League and German Cup exits have also hit Bayern this month, with the decision to sack coach Julian Nagelsmann and replace him with Thomas Tuchel failing to improve the club’s form – with performances worse if anything.
German media have speculated that chief executive Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic could lose their jobs, something their boss Hainer did not deny.
“We are concentrating on the German championship for now. That will be hard enough, as we saw,” he told reporters after the Mainz defeat. “We’ll talk about everything else later.”
Bayern had been 1-0 up at half-time but fell apart after the break. Dortmund now lead their rivals by one point.
“When you see two such different halves and then we collapse like that, it’s hard to explain,” added Hainer.
Former Bayern goalkeeper Kahn, in the job for two seasons after experienced duo Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge stood down, has said he has “no problem” with criticism.
“I have experienced many things in my career and know what it means when things don’t go well at Bayern. We all bear the responsibility,” he added.
