There was no time to be paralysed by shock in the 17th minute of the game. Referee Harm Osmers had only just pulled the red card from his pocket as Manuel Neuer removed his captain’s armband from around his bicep without protest and handed it to team-mate Joshua Kimmich. “That always stings, of course,” said Vincent Kompany later, “especially when a red card affects everything so early on in the game.” But Bayern didn’t spend long complaining, moaning or arguing. In fact, it was almost as if this great stroke of misfortune was something the team and its captain had needed to ignite the already effervescent atmosphere of 75,000 spectators inside the Allianz Arena for the DFB Cup round-of-16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen.
It felt as though one final piece of the jigsaw was missing in order to unleash a truly perfect Bavarian storm. It was a great and valiant effort, but one that ultimately went unrewarded. But, as Bayern’s board member for sport Max Eberl put it, it could perhaps be the start of something big. Factually speaking the 1-0 defeat to the holders means a disappointing elimination from the DFP Cup. But “there was life in this performance,” praised head coach Kompany. “The boys gave everything they had.”
Without top scorer against double winers
The coach took Leroy Sané off the pitch for substitute keeper Daniel Peretz. This was just the Israeli international’s third competitive appearance for FC Bayern. But Peretz was completely powerless to keep out Nathan Tella as he scored the only goal of the game against him (69’).
Kompany had also been forced to make some headline changes ahead of this round of 16 clash: Harry Kane, the Bundesliga’s and Bayern’s top scorer, was ruled out with a muscle injury he sustained in Der Klassiker. “Harry has scored 20 goals; you can’t replace him,” Kompany reiterated before kick-off. Yet all thoughts of somehow compensating for the absence of such an irreplaceable player were thrown out the window after the sending-off on the 17-minute mark.
Neuer had tried to clear a Jonathan Tah long ball played in towards Jeremie Frimpong, but he collided with the Leverkusen wing-back. “Manu is a very clever goalkeeper who usually reads these balls,” Eberl attempted to explain. “At that moment it didn’t work. And then it happens that we’re a player down.” Neuer himself was the most annoyed of all: “That decided the game. It hurt us and for that I’m sorry. I’ve already apologised to the team. I was still hoping for a hint of an offside in that situation, but I can’t change it now. It was a mistake and I have to accept that – unfortunately there’s nothing else I can do.”
The captain remained beside the pitch, however, to try to encourage and motivate his team-mates and “to make them realise”, as the keeper put it, “that we can still do this.”
A collective effort: from the turf to the stands
The team took this literally: instead of dropping off and placing all their hopes on the counter-attack, Bayern continued to dominate. Fuelled with tremendous aggression and an unbridled will, each and every player was motivated to their very core, as if having drunk the Gallic magic potion from the Asterix books.
The determination was infectious as it spilled over into the stands too. Every tackle, every duel and every coming-together – and there were plenty of them – reignited the crowd’s fiery passion like the striking of a match. Every attack from the now outnumbered team invigorated the atmosphere inside the Allianz Arena, electrifying the entire stadium from the turf to the fiery red roof.
“Our fans drove us on,” said an impressed Kompany, “and in return we showed real commitment. It was a great atmosphere.” The energy from the stands lifted the players onto the backs of the crowd, who were really up for carrying their team forward. Leverkusen, defending Bundesliga champions and DFB Cup holders, didn’t know what hit them at times, even with an extra man on the pitch. “It’s not easy to hold your own here. Even with the extra man, we didn’t always use it well,” admitted Germany defender Tah. “We didn’t make it obvious that there was one more of us,” concurred Robert Andrich.
And so, Bayern’s dominance, which had begun with 11 players, diminished somewhat with ten. But, by the end of the game, FCB had still amassed 60 percent possession, 18 touches in the opposition penalty area (to Leverkusen’s 13), 14 shots on goal (to Leverkusen’s 11) and 12 corners (to Leverkusen’s 4). “We put a lot into this game,” emphasised Eberl. “The team’s reaction after the sending-off was outstanding. The character, the quality shown by ten men against the reigning champions and cup holders, who were near unplayable last season: that really impressed me.”
'One of the best performances of the season'
Konrad Laimer, Kimmich, Jamal Musiala, they all ran, all tackled and all fought until the final whistle. “What the lads did today really can’t be taken for granted,” said Kompany. “Their commitment was impressive for long periods, and they showed their great character.” Vice captain Kimmich was deeply disappointed about the cup exit, but also proud: “We couldn’t have been much better and more dominant than we were, even with 11 men,” he said. “Today was one of our best performances of the season so far, especially considering the opposition. I hope that spurs us on.”
In the end, the only shortcoming was how clinical their finishing was. Regardless of how FCB tried to get the ball into the Leverkusen net, whether from set pieces, headed efforts or shots from inside and outside the box, the attempts were always managed to be scrambled or cleared off the line. It was a completely different story for the visitors, for whom a single momentary lapse in concentration from the Bayern defence was enough to score the decisive goal. “The team played excellently” praised president Herbert Hainer, proudly and in spite of the elimination. Yet even long after the match was over, there was no place for shock.
Reaction to the round of 16 cup tie with Bayer Leverkusen:
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