Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng has responded to criticism from club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, saying “next time he can tell me to my face.”
Bayern suffered consecutive defeats earlier this week, losing to rivals Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga and FC Rostov in the Champions League, although they did end the run with a win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Following the disappointing results the often outspoken Rummenigge singled out Boateng, saying it would benefit the team if he “comes back to earth a bit.”
Boateng has now reacted to Rummenigge’s criticism, telling fan club in Babenhausen in the Allgäu, as reported by Sport1, that “I can only laugh at that.
“Next time he can tell me to my face.”
Following their first league defeat of the campaign Bayern are three points behind Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig.
However, they are set to finish second in their Champions League group behind Atletico Madrid after their 3-2 defeat to Rostov on Wednesday.
This bump in the road for Carlo Ancelotti’s side is clearly angering Rummenigge, who gave his thoughts on Boateng’s lifestyle to German tabloid Bild.
“Jerome has to calm down and take things easier [off the pitch],” he said, as reported by Goal.
“Since the summer, it’s all been a bit too much for me. It would make sense for the whole club if he comes back to earth a bit.”
Boateng missed Bayern’s 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, but played in the defeats to Dortmund and Rostov.
And it was against the Russian side when he was most exposed, being turned inside out by Iranian forward Sardar Azmoun for one of their three goals.
Bayern will look to gather momentum when they take on Mainz in the Bundesliga on Friday, but it remains to be seen whether Boateng will return to the line-up after Mats Hummels and Javi Martinez played the last match.
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