Bayern Munich fans seem to be united in agreement that manager Thomas Tuchel made a mistake in starting Leroy Sane and should have opted for Sadio Mane instead.
The claims will make for unwelcome reading for Sane, who had a very public fall-out with Mane both during and in the aftermath of last week's Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat away at Manchester City. The pair were spotted engaged in a heated exchange of verbals on the pitch before things allegedly turned physical in the dressing room when Mane punched the German international.
The former Liverpool ace was suspended by the Bavarian giants as a result and also handed the biggest fine dished out in the club's history (€350,000). Despite this, it is Sane who the Munich faithful seem to have turned on.
This is because of the wide forward's first-half performance against City in the second leg at the Allianz Arena. Tasked with overturning Pep Guardiola's side's three-goal advantage, Bayern need to make the most of every chance they get.
In turn, this is why there was such an outpouring of frustration online when Sane was played through on goal only to fire wide of Ederson's post. The former City man looked dejected over the fact he'd wasted a glorious chance to spark a comeback against his former side.
The missed chance did not go down well on social media, with barely any Bayern fans in a particularly forgiving mood.
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One fan went to the effort of uploading a screengrab of Sane just before he fired wide and accompanied the snap with a caption that read: "Sadio Mane would have scored that without a problem."
Another added: "Tuchel coached a 3-0 first half but Leroy Sane is unserious Sadio Mane in that position kills the game."
A similar sentiment was echoed by a fellow Twitter user that claimed: "The fact Leroy Scane and Eric Choupo-Moting both get more game time than Sadio Mane is an insult to football."
One Bayern fan was a tad more analytical in their stance, as they wrote: "Thomas Tuchel’s obsession with Leroy Sane is funny, he’s selfish! Either bring on Sadio Mane and move [Kingsley] Coman to Right-Wing or bring on Serge Gnabry and play him at Right-Wing. He’s far more dangerous than Sane."
On the 63rd minute, those annoyed Bayern fans got their wish as Sane was hooked for Mane in what was a tense high-five as the pair headed in opposite directions.
