Bayern Munich experienced a nightmare evening on Wednesday in Saarbrücken, eliminated from the German Cup in the round of 16 by a third division player, and diminished by the injury of its defender Matthijs de Ligt, three days before the Klassiker in Dortmund.
For Bayern, this is the third premature exit in the last four seasons, at the stage of the round of 16 of the Cup. In January 2021, it was beaten by Kiel (then in the 2nd division), on penalties, and in November 2021, it suffered the heaviest defeat in its history in the Cup on the lawn of Mönchengladbach (5-0).
Winning goal in added time
Uncertain for a long time due to the state of the pitch after the heavy rains in recent days in Saarland (southwest of Germany), the meeting finally started as planned at 8:45 p.m.
If Thomas Müller logically opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a nice strike from the edge of the penalty area, Saarbrücken came back just before the break. On a short raise from Kim Min-jae on Frans Krätzig, Saarbrücken’s high pressure paid off. Lukas Boeder recovered the ball and Patrick Sontheimer found himself at the conclusion of the action (1-1, 45th + 3).
In the second half, Bayern laid siege to the opposing goal, but Tim Schreiber repelled numerous Munich attempts, like Kingsley Coman’s left-footed shot heading towards the top corner (75th). Completely against the run of play, for Saarbrücken’s only action in the second half, Marcel Gaus scored the winning goal in the 6th minute of added time.
Matthijs De Ligt injured
This humiliating defeat was coupled with an injury which Thomas Tuchel would have done without. In the 19th minute, in a tackle, Matthijs de Ligt injured his right knee. After his action, he immediately touched his knee in pain. Five minutes later, he was replaced by Austrian international Konrad Laimer, forcing Joshua Kimmich to move down to central defense alongside Kim.
The Bavarian coach is already without Dayot Upamecano, insufficiently recovered from his left hamstring injury contracted with Bayern on October 8, before the international break. Saturday, for the Klassiker of German football in Dortmund on the pitch of the Westfalenstadion, he will not be able to count on Joshua Kimmich, suspended two matches after his red card in the Bundesliga on Saturday against Darmstadt (8-0 victory).