Bayern beat Hoffenheim as Beckenbauer honoured

FC Bayern returned to competitive action for 2024 by beating Hoffenheim 3-0 in the Bundesliga thanks to a Jamal Musiala brace and another Harry Kane goal on a night where the Bayern family honoured Franz Beckenbauer, who passed away earlier in the week. The players warmed up in jerseys bearing Der Kaiser’s iconic No.5 and wore black armbands, while the Allianz Arena observed a minute’s silence before kick-off as they paid their respects to a legend.

Manuel Neuer started in goal for his 500th competitive Bayern appearance, becoming the 11th player to reach the landmark. The back four consisted of Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano, Matthijs de Ligt and Alphonso Davies. Joshua Kimmich and Raphael Guerreiro sat in midfield, with Thomas Müller, Musiala and Leroy Sane ahead. Kane led the line. New signing Eric Dier was not in the squad.

After a calm start to proceedings befitting Beckenbauer’s own unique style of play, the first attempt of note came from Hoffenheim’s Maximilian Beier but was off target. The young German striker also looked a threat on the break. However, it was the champions who struck first as Laimer and Sane played a short corner on the right. The latter fed Musiala, who fired on the angle beyond goalkeeper Oliver Baumann and in off the far post for his fourth goal of the league campaign. It also saw Bayern set a new Bundesliga record of scoring in 65 consecutive home games, surpassing the previous best that Beckenbauer’s team of 1970-74 had first managed. Sane was unable to make proper contact when jumping for a Müller cross, and Guerreiro was denied by the feet of Baumann, before Andrej Kramaric fired into the arms of Neuer. A sliced Upamecano shot was the last action of the first half.

Bayern soon found their groove again after the restart and had the ball in the back of the net as Sane tucked away Kane’s cutback following a high turnover, but the flag was raised for offside against the England captain. It heralded a spell of real pressure as Musiala struck the post and Baumann was forced into a number of saves. Things suddenly went the other way as Hoffenheim carved out a series of chances. Neuer twice made vital saves against Beier and Kramaric, before the former struck the crossbar from close range. The Munich men weathered that storm and finally got a second when Upamecano drove out of defence to pick out Musiala, who exchanged a one-two with Sane before tapping in to double the advantage. The visitors were reduced to 10 men shortly afterwards when Grischa Prömel received his second yellow card of the game. Kane then added a third in the closing moments with a well-taken left-footed finish after being fed by substitute Leon Goretzka.

Victory takes Bayern onto 41 points from 16 games, one behind Bayer Leverkusen who visit Augsburg tomorrow. Thomas Tuchel’s men will now head to their training camp in Portugal on Sunday until Thursday. They are next in action a week on Sunday when Werder Bremen come to the Allianz Arena.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Charlie Mason