Undefeated since the start of the season in the Bundesliga, the German football championship, Bayern Munich fell. Worse, he sank on the pitch of Eintracht Frankfurt (1-5), Saturday December 9, and conceded his heaviest defeat in the league in more than four years. 2nd in the standings, the Bavarians, who have a match in hand, could see leaders Bayer Leverkusen ahead of them by six points at the end of this 14th day.
Xabi Alonso’s Bayer, who will play Sunday in Stuttgart, is therefore the last undefeated team this season in the Bundesliga. Bayern Munich had until then managed to keep up the pace but did not manage their return to competition well, a week after being deprived of a match against Union Berlin due to heavy snowfall in Bavaria. This time, it was in the pouring rain that fell on the Waldstadion in Frankfurt that Thomas Tuchel’s players were beaten.
Frankfurt opened the scoring with Omar Marmoush (12th), recovering a shot from Farès Chaibi on the crossbar. Eric Dina-Ebimbe doubled the lead for Eintracht (31st), before Hugo Larsson added to the score for Munich (36th). The Munich players increased their turnovers and Bayern’s defenders lost important duels, like the Frenchman Dayot Upamecano, very feverish throughout the match, and at fault on Frankfurt’s third goal.
Joshua Kimmich, with a superb strike from the flat of his right foot from around twenty meters, reduced the score just before the break (44th) and reignited a semblance of suspense. But with Upamecano losing the ball again 60 meters from his goal, Bayern were punished on the counter-attack by Dina-Ebimbe. The French midfielder, who arrived in Frankfurt from Paris Saint-Germain more than a year ago, scored his first double in the Bundesliga.
An expected rebound against Manchester United
Ten minutes later, on the edge of offside, Ansgar Knauff increased the score (60th). “Eine geht noch, eine geht noch rein! » (One more goal can go!) then chanted the supporters of Eintracht Frankfurt. Dino Toppmöller’s men, however, remained on four consecutive defeats, including a humiliating elimination on Wednesday in the round of 16 of the German Cup in Saarbrücken (0-2).
This modest third division team had already created a huge surprise by defeating Bayern Munich in the previous round at the beginning of November (1-2). The Bavarian club then conceded its second defeat of the season, in all competitions, after losing in August in the final of the German Super Cup against RB Leipzig (0-3).
This time, Bayern lost in unusual proportions for the Bavarian ogre. To find such a heavy defeat for the Munich club in the championship, we have to go back to November 2, 2019 with, already, a defeat in Frankfurt (1-5). At the end of October 2021, Bayern was abruptly eliminated from the German Cup by Borussia Mönchengladbach (0-5). Since his arrival on the Bayern bench at the end of March, Thomas Tuchel had never conceded five goals.
The changes that the Bavarian technician made, with the entry into play of Jamal Musiala, Thomas Müller or Serge Gnabry, brought nothing. Gnabry even had to come out after only five minutes of play, injured. After this heavy setback, Bayern will be expected at the turning point on Tuesday in the Champions League. Already qualified and assured of finishing first in Group A, he will travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. The Munich club will then try to redeem itself in the Bundesliga, by hosting Stuttgart next Sunday.
