Bayern Munich at a crossroads and for Nagelsmann the scrutiny starts now

Even ‘Radio Muller’ went silent. When Thomas Muller, nicknamed ‘Radio’ for his chatterbox tendency, delivers a post-match verdict of “I don’t know what I should say,” it is a sure sign Bayern Munich have been thoroughly stunned.

Their exit from the Champions League on Tuesday, sealed by a late Villarreal equaliser in the Germany leg of a tie the Spanish upstarts led 1-0 after the first 90 minutes, marks a second season in succession that the Bundesliga champions have not made the competition’s semi-finals.

For almost any other club, that would not sound instantly like failure. For a Bayern who have won the competition twice in the last decade and only twice fell shy of the semis in the nine years between 2012 and 2020, it is interpreted as a significant setback.

They will most likely win a 10th successive Bundesliga this month or next, but after nine on the trot, domestic domination can feel routine. They are not in contention for the German Cup this season, either, having lost to Borussia Monchegladbach by a startling 5-0 in the second round.

Their head coach, 34-year-old Julian Nagelsmann, was among several who missed that game because of Covid-19 infections. But the exit from the European Cup puts him very much front-and-centre of the scrutiny Bayern are now under - from the club’s huge fan-base, from the boardroom, and even from within the dressing-room, where there is a deep and talented enough squad to expect to overcome mid-budget, provincial Villarreal.

Chuckwueze & Villarreal mood