Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel defends Bryan Zaragoza: "I fought for him to come earlier"

Bryan Zaragoza has played just 90 minutes in five games for Bayern Munich since his early arrival a few months ago. His coach, Thomas Tuchel, was already asked about his situation weeks ago and said that the language barrier is too high for him to adapt more quickly to his schemes. In the press conference for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Bayern, he did, however, outline a slightly more protective approach to the young Andalusian.

"It has been a very big step for him with all due respect to the team he played for - Granada. I fought with my sporting director to get him to come, but we started to have bad results, he doesn't speak German, he doesn't speak English well.... All signings take time. Nothing bad has happened. He's with us and he needs a bit of time to adapt and for everything to work," the tactician told reporters.

The Spanish forward rose to fame globally in October last year, when he put in an exhibition performance in a La Liga match against Barcelona, scoring a brace and hitting the post. Luis de la Fuente, aware of his good performance against Xavi Hernandez's side, called him up to the Spanish national team, which put him on the agendas of several big-name European clubs. The Bavarian club was one of them.

At Granada, his leading role was undisputed. Now that he is at Bayern, the Andalusians are on the verge of relegation to the second division. With a contract until 2027 in Germany, he will have to struggle to learn, as soon as possible, the concepts that Thomas Tuchel demands of him. In the first images that the Germans showed of his arrival, it was possible to see a good mood in the welcome of the rest of the squad.

 

February 2, 2024