Dortmund coach Tuchel nearing exit – reports

Berlin (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel is likely to leave the club at the end of the season after public disagreements with the Bundesliga side’s bosses, German media said on Monday.

The latest sign of friction came at the weekend when chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke admitted his relationship with Tuchel was strained over the decision to play their Champions League quarter-final first leg a day after a bomb attack on their team bus last month.

Tuchel, 43, complained in the aftermath of the 3-2 defeat by Monaco that he had not been involved in the decision “at all”, but Watzke at the weekend hit back and said that was not true.

“Against Watzke, Tuchel can not win,” the tabloid newspaper Bild said on Monday, while the local WAZ newspaper said that Watzke had the support of Dortmund chairman Reinhard Rauball in the row between the pair.

“Hans-Joachim Watzke has shown for years that in difficult situations he does not think of himself, first of all he thinks of the club,” Rauball told several media outlets.

Tuchel’s contract expires in 2018 but he looks likely to be gone within weeks.

Dortmund are third in the Bundesliga and on course for an automatic Champions League spot.