10-man Bayern bow out of cup against Leverkusen

FC Bayern were knocked out of the DFB Cup in the round of 16 on Tuesday night after a 1-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. Munich were reduced to 10 men when Manuel Neuer was sent off after a quarter-hour, but despite their dominance, they bowed out of the competition after Leverkusen's Nathan Tella scored what proved to be the winner in the second half.

Bayern lined up with Neuer in goal and Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano, Minjae Kim and Alphonso Davies in defence. Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka anchored a midfield featuring Leroy Sané, Michael Olise and Kingsley Coman, with Jamal Musiala up front. Neuer saw a red card early in the first half, meaning Sané was sacrificed for Daniel Peretz. Sacha Boey, Aleksandar Pavlović, Serge Gnabry and Mathys Tel took over from Laimer, Goretzka, Coman and Kim in the second half.

Neuer sent off

Bayern were dominant at first, with Davies' cutback evading friend and foe alike before Coman saw an effort saved. Florian Wirtz fired a shot wide, but the game changed completely when Neuer rushed out of his goal and was shown a red card after a challenge on Jeremie Frimpong.

Munich dropped deep now, Granit Xhaka and Nordi Mukiele firing wide, but Bayern soon reasserted their authority despite being a man down. Laimer hit the side-netting and Peretz denied Wirtz at the other end. Coman headed wide and had a shot deflected behind in a late flurry of chances before Goretzka saw a header saved. Wirtz miscued and Xhaka cleared the ball just ahead of Laimer, and Kim's header over the bar meant the contest was goalless at half-time.

No way through

Munich still enjoyed more of the ball after the interval, but a Wirtz effort poked wide following a solo run aside, clear-cut chances were few and far between. That was until Leverkusen took the lead midway through the second half, Alejandro Grimaldo's cross inviting Tella to head in.

Bayern went looking for a reply but ran up in vain against Leverkusen's solid defence. Gnabry saw a shot deflected wide, Upamecano's header was off target and Tel curled one over. The Bavarians had a golden chance for an equaliser when Olise was found in the box deep into added time, but he fired just wide as Bayern's cup campaign was ended.

Bayern will be back in action on Saturday when they entertain Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen