Bayern emerged victorious from Saturday’s Klassiker with Borussia Dortmund to regain top spot in the Bundesliga, but there were sparks flying before the match as Bayern legend Lothar Matthäus and club CEO had a mini-spat on camera over the circumstances surrounding the sacking of Julian Nagelsmann.
Bayern and Germany legend Matthäus had questioned Bayern’s behaviour earlier in the week claiming that the famed ‘Mia San Mia’ ethos of the club had been damaged by the Nagelsmann affair.
Responding to criticism that the former coach found out about his dismissal via the media rather than directly from the club, CEO Kahn admitted that mistakes had been made.
“Certainly no one from FC Bayern was responsible for the fatal leak” Kah insisted. “We’re not shooting ourselves in the foot. It was clear from the start that the first person to know would be Julian Nagelsmann.”
The fact that he was on holiday meant he couldn’t be called instantly to a face-to-face meeting at the Säbener Strasse headquarters and travelling to his ski resort was deemed inappropriate. “You don’t want to tell a coach over the phone that you’re separating from him. At least that’s not my style, and that’s not FC Bayern’s style either” Kahn added.
His annoyance then turned to his former teammate Matthäus saying, “I would ask you, Lothar: What do you actually mean by ‘Mia san mia’ when you always assume that there is no ‘Mia san mia’ anymore? You just put it somewhere in the landscape and then everyone can choose what that means!”
Ding ding, round 1.
Matthäus, working for Sky Germany, defended his stance that the club were in the wrong. “Oliver, I’m not making a private war against you here. You can call me anytime. I know people at FC Bayern that you might not even know and I talk to them too. I didn’t say it got worse, but it’s different.”
Kahn wasn’t going to let it lie and hit back saying, ““Perhaps one of us is suffering from a distortion of memory. Even in our time – you can probably still remember – there were always decisions that weren’t easy and which – and that’s the most important thing – have to be met for the success of this club. And that’s not always popular.
“But always this insinuation that we don’t maintain the style of FC Bayern – I would be very, very careful.”
So that’s Lothar off of Oliver Kahn’s Christmas card list.
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