When it comes to the fans who came to the small stadium on the grounds of the youth academy, one of Bayern’s big problems is rather small. “Ulle for Germany,” they called out to Sven Ulreich before the friendly against RB Salzburg on Friday evening.
How big or small the problems of the German series champion are, of course, cannot be answered with a test game. But one can perhaps say this much: For Ulreich, 34, the evening could have gone a little better. Even if he wasn’t at fault three times, he conceded three goals in the 4:4 (1:1) against Salzburg.
Should FC Bayern not sign a new goalkeeper to replace the injured national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer in the coming week, it was Ulreich’s dress rehearsal for the game to restart the Bundesliga at RB Leipzig in a week.
A realization for Nagelsmann: The counterattack protection must work better
The game, the only Bayern friendly of the winter break one day after returning from the training camp in Qatar, was quite instructive for friendly conditions. After all, RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig are quite similar in their style of play. Coach Julian Nagelsmann should therefore draw a few conclusions. One of them: The counter-attack protection has to work a little better.
Bayern were initially the better team, leading after nine minutes through a nice goal from Leroy Sané, but you could soon tell they were tired from the preparations. In the 17th minute, Sekou Koita leveled Salzburg easily with an attack down the middle, Dayot Upamecano slipping away after a header in midfield. He formed central defense together with Benjamin Pavard, Matthijs de Ligt was not in the squad due to an ankle problem, midfielder Leon Goretzka (“stress control”) and attacker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (“illness”) were also absent.
A few actions were enough for Salzburg to take the lead. Following a corner kick, after a strong Ulreich save, Karim Konaté scored (51st), shortly afterwards Noah Okafor scored the 3:1. Three of the nine substitutes that Nagelsmann brought on after the hour ensured the equalizer and the interim lead: Arijon Ibrahimovic (69′) with a nice long-range shot, Kinglsey Coman (71′) and Mathys Tel (88′), before Okafor in the 89th minute th minute scored again to equalize. Ulreich was no longer in goal, but Johannes Schenk, Bayern’s third goalkeeper.