The tension is rising at Bayern Munich. After Wednesday's shock loss to Lazio, Thomas Tuchel wanted to "talk about football". But the German journalists at Stadio Olimpico only wanted to discuss his future.
"I've already answered [that question]," a visibly frustrated Tuchel said. "I'm not worried [about my job]. I don't understand why you insist." At this point, Bayern's press officer felt compelled to intervene to protect the manager. "The question has been asked," he said. "Let's move on."
Doing so will be difficult, though. The shock 1-0 defeat in Rome had come just four days after a chastening 3-0 drubbing at Bayer Leverkusen that has left Bayern five points behind the unbeaten Bundesliga leaders. The Bavarians hadn't lost two games in a row since 2019, while it had been nine years since they'd last failed to score in consecutive fixtures.
Having already been routed by RB Leipzig in the DFL-Supercup and endured an embarrassing DFB-Pokal exit at the hands of third-tier FC Saarbrucken, Bayern are now facing up to the very real prospect of failing to win a single trophy across an entire season for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign.
Consequently, the questions over Tuchel's future were as inevitable as they were incessant.