Bayern Munich has seemingly turned around its poor early-season form, but things don’t appear to be completely squeaky clean in Bavaria.
The German giants have been forced to issue an all-clear statement after the wife of Thomas Muller posted critical comments of Bayern manager Niko Kovac after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Freiburg. Lisa Muller posted a picture on her Instagram story of Thomas coming off the bench in the 70th minute, appearing to have been taken from the stands - likely by her - with the caption “More than 70 minutes until he [Kovac] had flash of genius.”
Thomas Müller's wife on instagram: "More than 70 minutes until he had flash of genius"
— Stefan Buczko (@StefanBuczko) November 3, 2018
I assume she’s not the biggest fan of Kovac. Not good optics. #fcb pic.twitter.com/SNHq8J7ulk
The post was eventually deleted but the damage had been done. Bayern released a statement saying that Lisa eventually apologized to Kovac, and the manager had no issues with the incident in his post-match press conference, insinuating that he has no problems taking criticism, and treated Lisa like any other passionate fan who has their own personal opinions.
“There’s nothing to clarify,” Kovac said. “Obviously it wasn’t Thomas himself who wrote that.”
Thomas was also asked about it after the match, and while he said she probably should have thought twice about posting, he supported his wife and her independent thoughts. “It was out of emotion,” Muller said. “In retrospect I don’t think it was super. But she just loves me, what should I do?”
Bayern led 1-0 on a Serge Gnabry goal at the time Muller came on the pitch, but Lucas Holer equalized in the 89th minute as the defending German champions failed to win for the first time in four matches across all competitions. They sit third in the Bundesliga table on 20 points, four points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund after struggles earlier in the year.
