Dortmund chief admits disagreement with coach Tuchel after bus attack

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has told Funke Medien there was a “disagreement” with coach Thomas Tuchel in the aftermath of the attack on the team bus before a Champions League game last month.

The bus was hit by three explosions ahead of the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Monaco.

The match was called off and rescheduled by UEFA for the following day, but Tuchel hit out at the fact it was played so soon in comments seen by some observers as also being aimed at the Dortmund hierarchy.

Watzke said: “I gave the team the option in our talk on the Wednesday morning [the day of the rescheduled match] that every player feeling not capable of playing could just say it until the afternoon.

“The coach also had the right to address it. But not once I was confronted with this scenario.”

Asked whether there was a “disagreement” with Tuchel, Watzke said: “It’s like that, yes.”

Tuchel, 43, has a year left on his current deal at Dortmund and talks about a new deal are set to take place in the summer.

And Watzke added: “Generally speaking, we will discuss things like strategy, communication, trust beside the sporting aspects. That’s not rocket science.”

Speaking to Sky ahead of Dortmund’s match against Hoffenheim on Saturday, Tuchel said the issue was “too big for a matchday.”

He added: “As a coach, I forbid myself to think about it and to add anything to it.”

Later in the weekend, both Ruhr Nachrichten and broadsheet Suddeutsche Zeitung reported a rift between Tuchel on one side and players and the club hierarchy on the other.

“The truth is that the backing for the coach within the squad is much smaller than needed for a functioning team chemistry,” Ruhr Nachrichten said.

Suddeutsche quoted an unnamed player as saying: “If the coach praises you, you should be prepared that you won’t make the squad the next time.”