Thomas Tuchel breaks silence on Sadio Mane-Leroy Sane's fight: 'He's a top professional'

Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel has shown support for Sadio Mane, calling the suspended forward a "top professional."

Following Bayern Munich's 3-0 loss at Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League, Mane was involved in a brawl with Leroy Sane, where the Senegalese forward is believed to have punched his teammate.

Bayern Munich excluded Mane from their upcoming Bundesliga clash with Hoffenheim, with Sane reportedly telling club officials not to hand a harsh punishment to the former Liverpool star and put the episode behind them.

In a pre-match interview on Friday, Tuchel spoke on Mane's behalf, playing down the incident.

"I'm the first to defend him," Tuchel told the reporters.

"I've known him for so long, I know his environment, I know him exclusively as a top professional. He has never, never, never been guilty of anything.

"Everybody has the right to make a mistake. This was too much and against the code of conduct of the team and FC Bayern. He has clearly admitted it, the apology has taken place. It is absolutely credible. It was important to me that he remained in training," the German boss added.

On the incident itself, he added: "I didn't witness the incident myself because I was in the coach's room.

"I didn't hear or overhear anything. I immediately spoke to everyone involved. Because it was a very blatant incident, it was necessary for us to clarify the matter before the next training session and to be clear in our communication with everyone who works here. We have cleared the air so that we can train well together again.

"We're not the first team to have an incident like this and we won't be the last. The way the two people involved handled it had a cleansing effect. We had a positive, energetic atmosphere in training," said Tuchel.

On Thursday, Mane and Sane trained together with the rest of the Bayern Munich players, although they kept out of each other's way during the part of the session open to the media.

It is also understood that Bayern's CEO Oliver Khan and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic want to see a reaction from Mane, who could be sold if he doesn't have a strong end to the season. Mane, a two-time African Footballer of the Year, has struggled to find his best form since his arrival to Munich from Liverpool in the summer of 2022.

In his maiden campaign in the German capital, Mane has netted 11 goals and provided five assists in 32 matches in all competitions for Bayern Munich. Just ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Mane sustained an inflamed head of fibula that ruled him out of the tournament and the remainder of the year. The former Liverpool star missed at least nine games for the Bavarians before returning to action in February.