Thomas Tuchel, who was announced as the new manager of Bundesliga's Bayern Munich on Friday, called his new job a great challenge at a press conference on Saturday.

"The challenge can't be any greater," Tuchel said. "I was relatively naive in the first conversation [with Bayern]. In the first 30 seconds I didn't know what we were discussing or what it was about"

The German manager, who hasn't worked in his country since 2017, revealed that he had no contact with Bayern until Tuesday.

The last time he managed a German club was in Borussia Dortmund between 2015 and 2017. He helped the club win the DFB-Pokal championship during the 2016-17 campaign. After he left Chelsea in 2022, he thought he would manage outside Germany.

"It occurred to me that it actually begins right away with Dortmund with an international break beforehand," Tuchel said.

Tuchel's predecessor Julian Nagelsmann was fired after losing the leading position in Bundesliga. Bayern are currently second and one point behind Dortmund, which they will host at Allianz Arena on April 1. Tuchel called the coming competition "the game in German football."

April will be decisive for both Bayern and Tuchel as they will also face Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. The first and second legs will take place on April 11 and April 19 respectively. Bayern have also advanced to the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals where they will play Freiburg on April 4.

"When you see that this curve of performance is going down, you're forced to react," Bayern's sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said in comments about sacking Nagelsmann. "Fortunately, there was a top option on the market and it happened quickly."