Herbert Hainer came out of the changing room at the Munich stadium with a smile on Sunday evening. “We brought Labor Day forward,” said the FC Bayern president after the 2-0 (0-0) win over Hertha BSC. “It was a difficult game, you could see the uncertainty of the team. But we now have it in our own hands. That’s the greatest thing you can wish for. That you don’t have to rely on others.”
The German soccer record champions took advantage of Borussia Dortmund’s mistake (Friday evening only 1-1 against VfL Bochum) and took back the lead in the Bundesliga with the win, goals were scored by Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman. But the performance was very mixed, for a long time the Munich team had a hard time against the bottom of the table and actually had to work hard.
The discussion about Oliver Kahn remains a big topic at Bayern even after the win. The CEO, like sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, has been criticized. The club’s powerful supervisory board will meet on May 22 and will also deal with board issues.
After the final whistle, Hainer said: “All of our concentration – including in the lead – is focused on the German championship.” Concentrate on the sporting events. “That’s the most important thing.” He did not formulate a very clear commitment to Kahn even when asked. Has no decision been made regarding Kahn’s future? “We only care about the sport now,” said Hainer. “Other than that, we calmly analyze and debate the overall situation, internally and very carefully, as is customary at Bayern Munich.”
A little later, Kahn also came out of the dressing room. His contract as CEO of FC Bayern runs until the end of 2024. On Sunday evening in the stadium catacombs, when asked whether he would still be the club’s CEO next summer, Kahn said: “Of course I’m still here.” And further: “Of course, yes, We have a regular Supervisory Board meeting at the end of May. We will of course be very critical of each other and be very analytical, asking ourselves many, many questions. It’s not like we like everything that’s happened here in the last few months. There is definitely a need for discussion here and there. It’s also about reflection: Where do we need to improve? What can we do better in the future? But that’s all in the future now. Now it’s going step by step, we have a very difficult game again, Dortmund have a home game. It is now my great responsibility as CEO of FC Bayern Munich to put my focus one hundred percent on the sporting side.”
What does the public discussion do to him? Kahn: “A very wise coach once said: If you sign a contract with FC Bayern, you have to know what you’ve done. And that’s exactly how it is. My focus at the moment is not on any discussions. But only the German Championship. It’s super tight.” There’s always a lot of discussion about the club, he’s experienced a lot here as a player and afterwards.
Regarding the hard-earned victory against Hertha, he said: “In a phase like this, it’s not about winning the beauty prize. It’s all about winning and taking the lead in the standings. We did it.” The German championship is in no way a consolation prize. “It’s a super exciting situation for the Bundesliga,” said Kahn. “I said: It’s going to be tight, maybe until the last minute of the last day of the game.”