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Tuchel’s Bayern Loses in Mainz, Bundesliga Lead under Threat

Mainz's Leandro Barreiro celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga match between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich at the Mewa Arena in Mainz, Germany, Saturday, April 22, 2023. (AP)
Mainz's Leandro Barreiro celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga match between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich at the Mewa Arena in Mainz, Germany, Saturday, April 22, 2023. (AP)
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Tuchel’s Bayern Loses in Mainz, Bundesliga Lead under Threat

Mainz's Leandro Barreiro celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga match between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich at the Mewa Arena in Mainz, Germany, Saturday, April 22, 2023. (AP)
Mainz's Leandro Barreiro celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga match between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich at the Mewa Arena in Mainz, Germany, Saturday, April 22, 2023. (AP)

Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel endured a torrid return to his former club Mainz where his team squandered the lead and lost 3-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Borussia Dortmund was two points behind Bayern and could go top later Saturday with a home win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Five rounds remain after this weekend.

Sadio Mané scored and Bayern looked set to stretch its league lead to five points. Mané got his seventh league goal when he headed in João Cancelo’s cross at the far post in the 29th minute.

But Mainz improved after the break and Ludovic Ajorque equalized in the 65th when Bayern’s defense was unable to clear the ball after a free kick. Leandro Barreiro scored the home team’s second in the 73rd, and six minutes later Spanish left back Aarón Martín marked his 26th birthday by scoring Mainz’s third.

Bayern’s loss increases the pressure on chief executive Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić. They were already under scrutiny for their decision to fire coach Julian Nagelsmann before decisive games last month. Bayern has since crashed out of the Champions League and German Cup, and Nagelsmann’s replacement, Tuchel, has just two wins from seven games across all competitions.

Pál Dárdai’s return for his third stint as Hertha Berlin coach failed to inspire the team when it slumped to a 4-2 loss at home to Werder Bremen – a result that left Hertha on the bottom with little hope ahead of its visit to Bayern next weekend. Marvin Ducksch scored a hat trick for Bremen.

Wolfsburg routed Bochum 5-1 away, and Cologne won at Hoffenheim 3-1.

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Workers Take Down Olympic Rings from Eiffel Tower – for Now

Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
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Workers Take Down Olympic Rings from Eiffel Tower – for Now

Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

Workers removed the Olympics logo from the Eiffel Tower in the early hours of Friday, returning the beloved monument to its familiar form -- but perhaps only temporarily.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has promised to build new Olympic rings and return them to the landmark as a tribute to the hugely successful Olympic Games held in the capital during July and August.

The proposal has polarized opinion in the French capital and has been criticized by descendants of the tower's designer Gustave Eiffel, as well as conservation groups.

After initially suggesting the new rings should be permanent, Hidalgo has proposed they remain on the city's world-renowned symbol until the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Workers operating multiple large cranes removed the 30-tonne steel rings from between the first and second floors of the tower during the early hours of Friday morning.

They were first installed just under four months ago, on June 7, and will now be melted down and recycled.

The new rings, which the International Olympic Committee is expected to pay for, would be lighter versions of the originals and less prominent, according to a deputy Paris mayor, Pierre Rabadan.

"In my opinion, it would be better to put them somewhere else because it's a Parisian monument and it's not right that it becomes an advertising medium for an event that is now over," Hugo Staub, a French tourist at the tower on Friday, told AFP.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati, a longtime critic and opponent of Hidalgo, has also cast doubt over the idea, saying the mayor's proposal would need to respect procedures protecting historic buildings.

But others felt regret at losing a visual reminder of an enchanted period in Paris and expressed support for the idea of replacements.

"They were a bit large so it's better to put small ones that can remain for a few years," said Gabriel, a French volunteer at the Games, who was at the foot of the tower on Friday. "It would be symbolic and a great souvenir."