Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel has explained his angry outburst at RB Leipzig fitness coach Daniel Behlau after Tuesday’s night Champions League semi-final in Lisbon.
PSG reached the European Cup final for the first time in their history by beating Leipzig 3-0 at Estadio da Luz.
Goals from Marquinhos, Angel Di Maria and Juan Bernat wrapped up a comfortable victory for the French champions, who can now look forward to a showpiece clash against either Bayern Munich or Lyon on Sunday.
Leipzig lost their discipline defensively as they struggled to cope with PSG’s high press and pace in the final third of the pitch, and gave away a total of 24 fouls over the course of the 90 minutes.
Tuchel was seen clashing with Behlau shortly after the final whistle, but he attempted to play down the exchange in his post-match interview.
The German manager admitted to confronting his Leipzig counterpart Julian Nagelsmann over his tactics, before revealing that the club’s fitness guru attempted to join in their private conversation.
“It was between me and Julian,” Tuchel told reporters of the incident. “That is okay between two head coaches but then a third person interfered.
“I didn’t like that but it has since been sorted out.”
Nagelsmann conceded that Tuchel’s grievances were understandable, while acknowledging the fact that his side had been guilty of several mistimed tackles.
“We fouled a lot, you can see that statistically,” the Leipzig head coach said. “That wasn’t planned, we just often came too late into challenges.
“He complained because he wanted to protect his players. That’s all normal.
“I think we had 34 fouls at the end of the day so you can say something.”
Tuchel was delighted to see his team pick up a “deserved” victory against Leipzig, but conceded that Bayern are still the favourites to win this season’s Champions League after their stunning 8-2 quarter-final win over Barcelona.
“It’s incredible! We are here to play a final and to win,” said the 46-year-old. “We know that Bayern are the favourites, but it’s football.
“Obviously, that will be the biggest challenge of my career on Sunday.”
