OWithout its leader Joshua Kimmich, who was again quarantined, FC Bayern Munich stumbled in the Bavarian duel at FC Augsburg. Two weeks before the summit in Dortmund, the series champions lost 1: 2 (1: 2) in a fast-paced football game and could not put Borussia under pressure as planned at the start of the 12th matchday.
With a home win against VfB Stuttgart on Saturday, BVB can even move up to one point on the front runner. In the second defeat of the season, coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team initially made astonishing mistakes on the defensive and, apart from Robert Lewandowski’s connecting goal (38th minute), was exceptionally inconsistent. “What worries me is that we didn’t have enough chances to score,” complained Manuel Neuer, Bayern goalkeeper.
The Augsburg fans among the 26,000 spectators allowed again in the sold out WWK Arena were amazed under their protective masks at their team, which led 2-0 early on with their best performance of the season by Mads Pedersen (23rd minute) and André Hahn (35th). “The first half was bad,” admitted national player Thomas Müller on the DAZN streaming service. You could see that Bayern wanted to turn the game, but maybe they haven’t worked out the necessary ounce of luck. “It’s a bitter setback for us in the way we see ourselves in how we want to play games,” said the midfielder.
Goal scorer Hahn was completely enthusiastic about the performance of his own team. “Great,” he said. They had a game on Friday evening, a full stadium. “We were able to do something good for our fans and for ourselves. That’s why it feels great, ”said the striker.
The Augsburgers gave Bayern little space and fought for every ball.
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Image: AFP
The Bavarian duel was strongly influenced by Corona. Bayern were missing the infected Niklas Süle and Josip Stanisic as well as the unvaccinated national player Kimmich, who had to go back to domestic isolation due to contact with a person who tested positive in his private sphere. After the most recent international matches, the 26-year-old will probably miss the Champions League game on Tuesday at Dynamo Kiev after the Augsburg game. The unvaccinated professionals in the squad become a stumbling block for the record champions.
The FCA had to compete at short notice without the Swiss Ruben Vargas, who was also infected with the corona virus. In addition, attacking colleague Alfred Finnbogason with muscular problems also fell out. But the Augsburgers resolutely put it away. The home side played football as their coach Markus Weinzierl wants him to be: aggressive, courageous, straightforward.
Impressed Munich Bavaria
The often sloppily fitting Munich team, for whom newcomer Marcel Sabitzer could not even begin to replace Kimmich in midfield, already looked impressed. Iago initiated both FCA goals from the left. In the 1-0 striker Andi Zeqiri put the ball perfectly on Pedersen, who hit flat and hard into the far corner. At 2-0, Sabitzer lost the ball against Zeqiri. And Bayern defender Lucas Hernández was bad at Hahn’s header.
The 0: 2 mortgage visibly incited the Munich team. Benjamin Pavard, who was passive with the goals conceded, crossed from the right. Thomas Müller extended the ball in his 600th competitive game for Bayern to Lewandowski, who also finished technically fine. It was the eleventh goal of the Pole in Augsburg – a record result in the league.
After the break there was the expected one-way football in the direction of the Augsburg goal: Lewandowski did not score (50th). Nagelsmann, who ran up and down the sidelines desperately, replaced Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies and later also Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to unleash more offensive force. The Augsburgers defended themselves with great commitment and defended strongly as a collective. Davies just missed (74th). And Rafal Gikiewicz parried a shot by his compatriot Lewandowski brilliantly (80th).
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