Thomas Tuchel slammed speculation about the Bayern Munich future of Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic by stating the off-field leaders "shaped the club".
This has been a tough week for Bayern, with Champions League elimination coming at the quarter-final stage for a third successive season after a 1-1 draw with Manchester City meant a 4-1 aggregate defeat.
Tuchel allowed himself a joke in Friday's pre-match conference, ahead of the clash with Mainz, when he reacted to the arrival of set-piece mastermind Anthony Barry from Chelsea by saying: "Finally there is a good coach."
Most focus has fallen on the possibility of departures, however, with reports casting some doubt on whether Bayern will continue to back CEO Kahn and sporting director Salihamidzic.
"I read absolutely nothing," said head coach Tuchel. "I come here in the morning and I feel a good energy here. I try to influence what I can influence.
"I don't want to comment on the rumours. My cooperation with the club management is goal- and solution-oriented. Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic shaped the club."
He added: "I don't rule out that some unrest affects the players. But it will never be completely calm. We focus on the things that we can influence ourselves. I don't know any other way."
Tuchel's team must reset and train their focus on the Bundesliga, their last remaining trophy target. Bayern head into this weekend's games with a two-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund after both drew their last league matches.
According to Tuchel, Bayern are not themselves at the moment. "I rather sense an insecurity, an unrest that paralyses us a bit," he said.
He said the team should look to "turn dissatisfaction into energy", and Tuchel, appointed on March 25, has seen plenty of cause for dissatisfaction.
Bayern exited the DFB-Pokal to Freiburg under his watch in early April and have not gone beyond the quarter-finals of that competition in the last three seasons.
But Tuchel said: "This is not a crisis. We must not question everything. There is always a sense of reality involved. Many big clubs didn't make it to the [Champions League] quarter-finals. But we remain ambitious and we always want more. We're still first in the Bundesliga."
The arrival of coach Barry is a timely boost, with a deal agreed to take him from Chelsea, where he and Tuchel previously collaborated.
"He just arrived," Tuchel said. "Finally there is a good coach. I am very happy. We really wanted to have him with us. The whole package is right for him: his personality, the love of the game, the love of his job, his passion and his quality. He brings a lot of energy. His work with set-pieces at Chelsea was on a whole new level for me."
STATHS remains perfect in Group D after 4-1 win over XLCR, as Tivoli put seven past Cumberland in Group B
Despite conceding for the first time this season, last year's beaten finalist St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) extended their unbeaten run in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup with a 4-1 beating of Excelsior High in a Group D top-of-the-table clash at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Saturday.
A brace from Leon Brown (2nd, 68th) and one each from Kalonji Watson (47th) and Andre Salmon (70th), made the points safe for the Bumper Hall-based team. Jkivann Salmon (75th) got Excelsior's consolation.
With the win, STATHS are now sole leaders of the group on 15 points, three ahead of Excelsior, who were suffering their first defeat of the season.
Winning coach Phillip Williams expressed pleasure with his team's progress so far.
"I am very happy today was a good test for my team, I think the Excelsior team is a good team and we embrace these types of games, and the boys showed their quality today. This is a more mature team, so we keep doing what we have been doing and it's paying off. We have another shot to win the title this year and we will give it our best try," he said in a post-match interview.
It was a frantic start by STATHS, as Brown picked up a loose ball and worked his way around two defenders before unleashing a stinging left-footer from the top of the 18-yard box that gave Jadavin Waul, in goal for Excelsior, no chance at a save.
Though STATHS bossed possession from there and had a few chances from which they could have converted, Excelsior were not without hope and did play their game but found the Bumper Hall team's defence in defiant mode.
As the score went unchanged at the break, STATHS, like they did at the start, came out spiritedly on the resumption and doubled the lead two minutes in when Watson fired home from the top of the 18-yard box, beating Waul all ends up.
They continued to apply consistent pressure and pushed even further ahead courtesy of Brown, who applied an easy finish from close range to a Dwayne Atkinson pass, moving his tally to 10 goals this season.
And before Excelsior could catch their breaths Salmon delivered another punch when he fired home while under pressure from two defenders.
However, the Mountain View Avenue-based team gave their fans something to celebrate, as Jkivann Salmon finished off a well-worked build up with a sweet right-footed strike from deep inside the 18-yard box, beating STATHS's custodian Jaheem Williams, at his near post.
Excelsior's Head coach Keon Broderick took heart from his team's performance to an extent.
"The goal we scored is evident that we have quality in the team. But credit must be given to STATHS the way they transitioned and came at us really quickly. I also thought we could have done much better defensively, but as we move on into the latter stages I think we will be much better," Broderick said.
Meanwhile, defending Walker Cup champions Tivoli High were among other winners on the day, as they moved to the top of group B thanks to a dominant 7-0 win over Cumberland. The win saw Tivoli up to 10 points from four games, one point more than defending champions Jamaica College.
Jude Bellingham stars to send Real Madrid top of LaLiga
Jude Bellingham continued his fairytale start to life at Real Madrid with another starring role in a 3-0 victory at LaLiga surprise packages Girona.
Bellingham’s superb assist allowed Joselu to open the scoring and, after Aurelien Tchouameni had made it 2-0, the England midfielder wrapped things up with his seventh goal for the Spanish giants.
Real’s victory, soured by Nacho Fernandez’s red card, was their seventh in eight league matches and saw them return to the top of the table while Girona fell to third after their first defeat of the campaign.
Athletic Bilbao remain in fourth despite crumpling to a chastening 3-0 loss at Real Sociedad.
Robin Le Normand opened the scoring while second-half strikes from Takefusa Kubo and Mikel Oyarzabal sealed a commanding victory for a Sociedad side that moved them up to sixth.
Radamel Falcao struck from the spot in the 12th minute of stoppage time as Rayo Vallecano claimed a 2-2 draw against Mallorca while Alex Baena saw red as Villarreal were held to a 0-0 draw at Getafe.
Serie A leaders Inter Milan returned to winning ways after Lautaro Martinez came off the bench to score four times in a 4-0 win at Salernitana.
The Nerazzurri, who slipped to a first loss of the campaign at home to Sassuolo in midweek, initially struggled to break down Salernitana but Martinez’s 55th-minute introduction changed the picture.
He scored in the 62nd, 77th, 85th – from the spot – and 89th minutes as Inter quickly moved back above city rivals AC Milan, who earlier turned on the second-half style to record an impressive 2-0 win over Lazio.
Christian Pulisic and Noah Okafor were on target to finally end stubborn Lazio resistance at the San Siro, but Rafael Leao was the star attraction as he set up both goals.
Defending champions Napoli emphatically ended Lecce’s 100 per cent home record in the league with a 4-0 victory at the Stadio Via del Mare.
Goals from Leo Ostigard and substitutes Victor Osimhen and Gianluca Gaetano had the visitors in control before Matteo Politano converted a penalty in added time.
Paris St Germain were thwarted by their former academy goalkeeper Mory Diaw as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Ligue 1 basement side Clermont.
Luis Enrique’s side would have gone top with victory at Stade Gabriel Montpied, but could not find a way past an inspired Diaw, who began his career in PSG’s youth set-up.
Monaco are the early frontrunners in the French top-flight but they twice had to come from a goal behind to see defeat Marseille 3-2.
Iliman Ndiaye and Samuel Gigot put Marseille ahead but Maghnes Akliouche and Folarin Balogun equalised inside a frantic first 24 minutes. Akliouche had the final say eight minutes into the second half.
Harry Kane was on target as Bayern Munich came from two goals down draw 2-2 at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.
Leipzig struck early through Lois Openda and Castello Lukeba but Kane and Leroy Sane replied in the second half to earn the reigning champions a point.
But the draw saw Thomas Tuchel’s men end the day in third, two points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
Leverkusen recorded a 3-0 win at rock-bottom Mainz, courtesy of Sepp van den Berg’s own goal, plus second-half strikes from Alex Grimaldo and Jonas Hofmann.
Deniz Undav bagged a second-half brace as second-placed Stuttgart defeated Cologne 2-0 while there were also wins for Heidenheim, Wolfsburg and Borussia Monchengladbach.
Substitute Lautaro Martinez scores all four goals as Inter see off Salernitana
Lautaro Martinez scored four times after coming off the bench as Inter Milan returned to winning ways and the top of Serie A with a 4-0 victory at struggling Salernitana.
Inter, who slipped to a first loss of the campaign at home to Sassuolo in midweek, initially struggled to break down a Salernitana side that had not managed to win any of their previous six matches.
Martinez’s entrance in the 55th minute proved key and he broke the deadlock just after the hour, although Inter were grateful that Mateusz Legowski saw an equaliser chalked off for offside.
Martinez struck again and then completed a 23-minute hat-trick from the penalty spot before the Argentinian took his tally for the season to eight goals as Inter went back above city rivals Milan, who beat Lazio on Saturday.
Marcus Thuram had an early sight at goal but Salernitana keeper Guillermo Ochoa made a comfortable save while Alexis Sanchez and Denzel Dumfries were unable to direct their efforts on target.
Salernitana steadily grew into the encounter and Boulaye Dia tested Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who then had to get down low to keep out Grigoris Kastanos’ strike from distance.
The hosts ended the half on top and Inter’s listlessness in the final third after the interval prompted Simone Inzaghi to introduce Martinez, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Kristjan Asllani also brought on.
Martinez needed just seven minutes to make his presence felt as a low ball into his path from Thuram required a delicate chip to beat the advancing Ochoa and put Inter ahead.
They were almost immediately pegged back as Agustin Martegani’s perfectly-weighted through ball saw Lęgowski dash in to score what he thought was his first Serie A goal, only to be ruled offside on replay.
Inter got a gift as they doubled their lead as Ochoa’s throw caught Domagoj Bradaric unaware and the Croatian was dispossessed by Dumfries before the ball was worked to Nicolo Barella, whose cut back allowed Martinez to slam home in the 77th minute.
Salernitana’s plight worsened as Thuram turned away from Matteo Lovato before being hauled down in the area, allowing Martinez to step up and complete his hat-trick in the 89th minute.
Martinez was still not finished and completed a miserable second half for Salernitana with another first-time finish after being teed up by Carlos Augusto.
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