Thomas Tuchel again discussed Matthijs de Ligt's situation on Saturday in the run-up to the competition meeting with VfL Bochum. The 24-year-old defender remained on the bench for the entire match in the top match against Bayer Leverkusen last week and had to settle for a substitute in the Champions League match against Lazio in midweek.

“At Bayern we always think about the opponent. We wanted to press extremely hard against Leverkusen, so we chose Kim, Upamecano and Dier in the centre,” the Bayern Munich coach explained at the press conference.

“It was a last-minute decision, because Matthijs had received injections in his back the day before,” the German continued. “We knew that Upamecano was not going to play the entire match and could not take the risk that Matthijs would also have to be left out. It was not a decision against Matthijs.”

Tuchel stated earlier this week that he has no ranking. He repeated these words in the run-up to the match against Bochum, which is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. “We have four players for two spots. I don't have number one or number four. I choose those who are in the best shape.”

“You have to fight for your place, that seems normal to me. Unfortunately, what should be normal is not normal at Bayern. It is true that Matthijs has been a bit behind in recent weeks, but he is certainly not behind in our appreciation.”

De Ligt hopes to play his second European Championship on behalf of the Dutch national team next summer, although there is a good chance that his position with the Dutch team will falter due to his current reserve role at Bayern and the many defenders from which national coach Ronald Koeman can choose. The 43-time international would like to wash away the aftertaste of the previous edition. De Ligt was the absolute dissonant on June 27, 2021 during the lost eighth final against the Czech Republic (0-2).

The marker was shown a red card after 55 minutes for an intentional handball, after which the Dutch team completely lost the match as a team of ten. Goals from Tomas Holes and Patrik Schick defeated the Netherlands in Budapest.

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