Bayern Munich, stung by criticism after surprise cup defeat, hosts Galatasaray in Champions League

Bayern seeks 4th win in CL vs Galatasaray; Tuchel defends team from criticism; Dreesen backs coach; De Ligt out with knee injury. Bayern hopes to extend record-breaking win streak in CL, aiming for seventh title.

Bayern Munich hopes to continue its winning start to the Champions League against Galatasaray on Wednesday amid a brouhaha over coach Thomas Tuchel’s reaction to criticism.

Tuchel broke off from a post-game TV interview following his team’s 4-0 win at Borussia Dortmund in “der Klassiker” on Saturday, when he was clearly still aggrieved by commentary from experts after Bayern’s surprise loss to third-division Saarbrücken in the German Cup just days before.

The coach directed his ire at former Bayern stars Lothar Matthäus and Dietmar Hamann, now pundits for Sky TV, for saying there had been no development of the team since Tuchel had taken over from the fired Julian Nagelsmann in March.

“I haven’t seen any development with the pair of them either,” Tuchel countered at a press conference on Friday.

Tuchel was snappy when talking to Sky presenter Patrick Wasserziehr before the Dortmund game – “I don’t want to disturb when the experts are speaking about us,” he said and then followed up after his team’s win by responding sarcastically to Matthäus’ praise.

“Then it’s Easter and Christmas!” Tuchel said.

He later broke off from the interview, then followed up in the post-game press conference by saying, “Should I quote Didi and Lothar here? For a team that hasn’t developed and with a poor relationship between players and coach, I would say it looked quite OK.”