OPINION
DFB Cup
Bayern embarrassed themselves in Saarbrücken: Bad team, even worse losers
With hanging heads, the FC Bayern players fled to the dressing room after the final whistle in Saarbrücken
© Uwe Anspach / DPA
For the third time in a row, FC Bayern was eliminated in the second round of the DFB Cup. Only the reaction after the final whistle crowned the record champions’ (non-)performance.
What does it take for a cup sensation like the one in the book? An underdog who has nothing to lose. A favorite who prefers magic to fighting. A deep pitch that was still unplayable a few hours before kick-off. And a small but burning stadium in the glow of the floodlights. Actually they would have Bayern don’t even need to compete against 1. FC Saarbrücken. The circumstances made the record champions and cup winners an outsider in advance. But joking aside: the defeat against the third division team is nothing less than an embarrassment for Bayern. However, the result of the game is topped by the team’s performance – and their reaction after the final whistle.
FC Bayern embarrassed themselves in the game against Saarbrücken – and afterwards
If it had been a normal game, the evening would have been relaxed for the Munich team. 1-0 lead in the 16th minute through Thomas Müller, lots of possession, a few more chances to score. But it wasn’t a normal game – and that apparently never really got through to the players. Matthijs de Ligt’s injury shortly after the lead was apparently enough to shake the team’s entire structure. What followed was a lack of plan in a dangerous mix with inexplicable failures in the back line.
The Saarbrücken team repeatedly created chances because they did what underdogs do in a cup game: they run, bite, fight, throw themselves into every ball. Bayern seemed overwhelmed in some situations – as if they had never faced anyone before played aggressive opponents. Min-Jae Kim’s catastrophic bad pass, which equalized at the half-time whistle, was just the low point for a record champion who had apparently prepared for a quiet evening with their lead.
But anyone who thought that 1. FC Saarbrücken’s goal had woken up Bayern and that everything would get better in the second half was wrong. Of course they were still the team that dominated the game, of course they had chances, but ultimately it has to be said that the Munich team never accepted the fight that the third division team forced on them.
Bayern ensure an undignified end to a historic cup game
So it happened as it had to happen. Fifth minute of added time. Throw-in on the halfway line for Saarbrücken. Six touches later the ball was in the Bayern goal. The Ludwigsparkstadion exploded. And the Munich team caused another low point of the evening. When referee Frank Willenborg gave the final whistle to start a night of partying in Saarland, coach Thomas Tuchel’s players already had one foot in the locker room. Only Thomas Müller congratulated his opponent on their victory. A bad team on the pitch, an even worse loser after the final whistle: Bayern ensured an undignified end to a historic cup game with their escape into the catacombs.
Victory against FC Bayern
The magical night in Saarbrücken – pictures of an unforgettable cup evening
Apart from the knockout in the last minute, the record champions will be particularly bothered by their (non-)performance. Three days before the “classic” in Dortmund, the tree is already burning in Munich – at the beginning of November. If Bayern perform in the top game even remotely like they did in the cup, they could be in for a second rude awakening on Saturday evening. The Westphalians have been playing more maturely and calmly than they have in years for weeks – and would certainly not exploit the large gaps in the FCB backline like in Saarbrücken until the 96th minute.