· 2 min readIn this Augsburg vs Bayern match, I analyse the key tactical moments, individual performances and turning points of the game.
Bayern came into the fifth round of the Bundesliga flying high, with Olise and Kane in great form, but there was one curious detail: the team’s last league defeat had been against Augsburg themselves, 47 games ago. And it took just ten seconds to realise that this game could have a special story to tell.
Neuer received the ball from the first pass of the match, took a poor touch and, under absolutely no pressure, tried to play it over Fellhauer. But he hit the Augsburg player instead, leaving him with an open goal, and he made no mistake. A horrible error from Bayern’s goalkeeper, who handed the hosts the perfect start. It was the fastest goal in Bundesliga history. Ten seconds in, and we were already witnessing history.
Augsburg set up in a 5-4-1, with Rodrigo Ribeiro, the Portuguese forward formerly of Sporting, isolated up front. The lines were close together, but the defence wasn’t sitting too deep, making life difficult for Bayern without giving them space easily. And the plan was working. Olise, usually so good at taking defenders on, struggled to get past the defence, while Kompany’s side kept shooting from outside the box and misplacing simple passes. It wasn’t just down to Augsburg’s quality: Bayern were also far from their best.
In the 35th minute, Bah had an unbelievable chance. After a corner and some confusion inside the box, Matsima sent the ball towards the far post, where his teammate, practically on the goal line, somehow managed to miss the target. What a horrible miss. At the other end, Kane was also struggling to impose himself physically in a game full of contact and shirt-pulling. Even so, deep into stoppage time, he found himself unmarked inside the six-yard box and hit the crossbar. He had to score that.
Bayern started the second half better and even celebrated a goal in the 50th minute, when Luis Díaz pounced on a volley that Dahmen failed to deal with properly. The goalkeeper was partly at fault, but VAR ruled the goal out for an offside by Stanisic in the build-up. Four minutes later, there were no doubts: Kane made a run in behind, received the ball and played it between the centre-backs for Saibari, who controlled it brilliantly before shooting to equalise.
But Augsburg had no intention of making things easy. In the 64th minute, Brackelmann appeared inside the box and shot, forcing Neuer into a save, but the ball fell to Rodrigo Ribeiro, who reacted to the rebound and put the hosts back in front. Could Neuer have done better? Maybe. It didn’t look like an easy save, but we’re talking about Neuer. He cannot leave the ball there for the striker to finish.
From that point on, the game became a spectacle. Bayern had two more goals ruled out, including one from Kane after an absolutely unbelievable outside-of-the-boot pass from Olise. In the 75th minute, Luis Díaz scored again, but he was offside. Three disallowed goals, and Bayern were still losing. The WWK Arena was rocking.
Then, in the 80th minute, Kane found Brown inside the six-yard box, and the forward only had to tap it in to make it 2-2. The equaliser did nothing to calm things down: Gnabry hit the post and missed the rebound in a move where he really had to score. And, deep into stoppage time, he threatened again, with the ball hitting the goalkeeper and the crossbar.
In the end, it’s a draw that leaves Bayern feeling they should have got more out of the game, but it also says a lot about Augsburg’s courage. Neuer gifted them the opening goal, the hosts made the most of their opportunities and forced one of Europe’s strongest teams to chase the result until the very last second.
Post-match
Bayern had chances to win, of course, but they were far from perfect too. And when a game has four goals, three disallowed strikes, shots hitting the woodwork and this level of excitement right until the end, it’s hard not to want more. What a great game of football.
