Nightmare before Christmas: Champions League finalists PSG sack German boss Thomas Tuchel
French giants Paris Saint-Germain have sacked manager Thomas Tuchel despite the German leading the team to the Champions League final for the first ever time last season, according to reports.
German outlet Bild reports that Tuchel was given his marching orders by PSG’s Brazilian sporting director Leonardo just hours after the club recorded a 4-0 win against Strasbourg on Wednesday to cut the gap to one point to Lyon at the top of Ligue 1.
PSG are yet to confirm the news, although the Qatar-owned club have been ruthless in recent years in their pursuit of European success to match their domestic dominance.
Former Borussia Dortmund boss Tuchel, 47, took over at the Parc des Princes in 2018, and has led the team to back-to-back Ligue 1 titles as well as Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue titles last season.
PSG's appearance in the Champions League final last season was their first-ever run to that stage of the competition, with signs that their big spending was finally paying off in continental competition.
They have also qualified for the knockout stages of this season's competition, topping Group H to earn a last 16 tie with Barcelona.
However, that appears not to have been enough for Tuchel to impress his paymasters.
Should the German's departure be confirmed as expected, former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino and ex-Juventus manager Max Allegri - both of whom are free agents - will likely be favorites to step in.
Tuchel was caught up in controversy this week over an interview published in SPORT1, in which he discussed the demands of life in the PSG dugout.
The German was quoted as saying that it can be hard to keep the likes of superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe happy, and that he felt more like "a sports politician or sports minister than a coach" during his initial period at the club.
However, Tuchel later attempted to clarify the comments, claiming he may have been mistranslated.
"I just said that PSG are unique and that it's a big challenge for me. It's always been like that. I like this challenge and nothing has changed," Tuchel said.
1 - Thomas Tuchel among Ligue 1 managers (2 games minimum):
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) December 24, 2020
2.37 points/game - ????highest average in the history (tied with Unai Emery)
75.6% win-rate - ????highest percentage in the history
Aufwiedersehen. pic.twitter.com/R3GtqjJglP
"I gave a video interview to a journalist who told me to do a story about German coaches.
"It is not an interview for him. It is not allowed. I was making a joke in German. The translation is not correct. We cannot translate word for word. It was a joke while we were talking and it is not allowed."
It is not yet clear whether the interview directly precipitated Tuchel's exit from the PSG hotseat.