It wasn’t missing that much, then the game of FC Bayern against Borussia Mönchengladbach might have turned into a nice family story instead of a defeat under adverse conditions. In the closing stages, substitute Munich striker Lucas Copado ran into the opposing penalty area. His uncle, sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, jumped up from the bench.
Copado, 17, is actually a striker for Bayern’s regional league team, which has a winter break until February. But on Friday he was part of a probably one-time squad of the record champions who were missing nine players due to positive corona tests. Not a single professional sat on the bench. And so Copado was substituted on to avert the 1: 2 against Gladbach. With him came Paul Wanner, 16 years and 15 days old and now the youngest Bundesliga footballer in club history.
“The two boys both made a good impression,” said Julian Nagelsmann. Wanner even praised Nagelsmann as an “incredible talent” and “outstanding player” who just had to stay clear in his head, “then the door and gate are open to him”. He left at short notice with 16-year-old Arijon Ibrahimovic from a course for the German U17 national team in Spain, in order to attend the final training session on Thursday.
Wanner played a couple of nice passes, his ball handling is noticeably good. Copado ran into the right position at the right moment. But in the penalty area, he was jerked off without humor. The ball went back to Robert Lewandowski, who had already scored the opening goal in the 18th minute, hit the post and hit the crossbar once. But Lewandowski did not place his shot correctly. And so it stayed with the third defeat of the still clear league leaders this season. Of course you had to evaluate them a little differently than the previous two.
“We still had a good team,” said Nagelsmann, and from the perspective of every Bundesliga competitor he was of course right. The only debutant in the starting line-up was U21 international Malik Tillman. But the coach mentioned several professionals playing in unfamiliar positions. Joshua Kimmich had to help out as a right-back in his first game after two corona quarantines and one corona infection. And, much more conspicuous: Marcel Sabitzer, the summer signing from Leipzig for midfield, played as a left-back after a long injury break. The Austrian did little, he played bad passes and slipped.
Nagelsmann also mentioned “thoughts on the cup” in his analysis. It was the first meeting with the Gladbach team since the historic 0: 5 in the DFB Cup in October. And it looked pretty easy again how the guests scored their goals. Florian Neuhaus equalized in the 27th minute: weakly defended. Stefan Lainer’s winning goal four minutes later: with a head after a corner. Twice the unfamiliar central defense of Niklas Süle and Benjamin Pavard did not look happy. Before half-time, goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, representative of the corona-positive Manuel Neuer, prevented a higher deficit.
Oliver Kahn criticizes the DFL game rules
Bayern would have liked to postpone the game, that was the topic during the week, but the DFL game rules did not allow that. CEO Oliver Kahn said in an interview with Dazn that he could only “encourage people to take another look at the regulations and revise them when everything has calmed down a bit”. For him it is “not really understandable” that players “who are sometimes injured in the long term are considered fit for action”.
If a club has more than 15 players available, an application for a game to be postponed according to the DFL cannot be granted. Probably so that a club cannot force a transfer, injured and banned players are considered “available”. In the case of Bayern and their annoyance, this list also includes national player Leon Goretzka, who has been absent for weeks due to persistent knee problems and continues to be out.
Before the next game in Cologne, the first of the players who tested positive should come back. Nagelsmann said Kingsley Coman, Corentin Tolisso and Omar Richards would be able to train again. Manuel Neuer will travel back to Munich from the Maldives, like many of his colleagues he was infected while on vacation. But he is not yet counting on “many returnees who are eligible for the first team,” said the coach.
And it is not clear whether there will be new corona cases again. Nagelsmann reported that several reserve players who would have been eligible for a place in the squad also tested positive during the week. So he’ll need the young players for a while. Shortly before the final whistle, he had told everyone who was left on the bench to be ready for a substitution. “So that they know what it’s like to wear the shirt in the stadium,” he said with a smile.