From last-minute leveller to extra boost: What the 3-3 draw means for the Paris match

It was one last attempt, one last shot, and with it came one last burst of hope and crossed fingers. But, as if the football gods wanted this incredible Saturday afternoon to be no less dramatic, the ball still didn’t go in. Michael Olise had unleashed it with his magic left foot in added time against FC Heidenheim, but not towards the top corner as usual, but low and with spin, yet precise. The ball crashed off the post, but brave Heidenheim keeper Diant Ramaj had dived to keep it out – and the ball hit his back and trickled over the line: the leveller ten minutes into added time. A dramatic draw after trailing twice. “It was the mentality, the belief,” commented head coach Vincent Kompany.

With two tissues in his nostrils

As the Bayern fans celebrated the late salvation in this match long thought to be lost – with the Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris in mind – Hoffenheim were devastated. A look at Jonas Föhrenbach’s face was enough to understand how they felt after the late equaliser in the relegation battle. The defender had collided with the keeper and had been treated for several minutes. Now he was sitting on the pitch, covered in blood, a large tissue in each nostril, shaking his head in disbelief at a point the visitors would have surely signed up for before the match on this summery day in Munich. “Of course Bayern might not have been fully focused between the two matches against PSG,” commented Heidenheim’s Patrick Mainka. But “we kept our hopes alive. Of course it’s very bitter to concede the equaliser with the last attack. It’s incredibly painful, but who knows what that point might be worth.”

Heidenheim had been two goals up and made it 3-2 with a quarter-hour to go. But enormous willpower is what marks Bayern out during this special phase. It feels as if they might move mountains if they were determined enough. FSV Mainz, who lost 4-3 after being three goals up, recently saw what force and power the champions can unleash. Or Paris Saint-Germain, who led 5-2 and now have a narrow 5-4 advantage ahead of Wednesday. And now Bayern and Heidenheim shared the spoils after Munich had conceded two avoidable goals until Leon Goretzka’s direct free-kick found the net – his second Bundesliga goal from a free-kick. “We didn’t play to our potential at the beginning, they made the most of it,” analysed Kompany.

Like the smell of beer and roast chicken at Paulanergarten

The goal and the sheer attacking power Kompany brought on at half-time meant Heidenheim were on the back foot now: Joshua Kimmich, Harry Kane, Luis Díaz, Michael Olise and the remaining players whipped up a mighty storm at the Allianz Arena. Goretzka levelled the scores and rounded off his brace, his fourth in the Bundesliga, with his fifth goal this season.

FC Bayern continued to pile up the pressure with great verve, Kimmich hitting the post before chances came and went for Kane, Díaz, Olise and Jackson. The pressure was crushing. The stats continued to diverge – shots, passes, possession, clear-cut chances. Another goal was in the air like the smell of beer and roast chicken at Paulanergarten. “We mustn’t take for granted how the lads fight back again and again,” said Kompany. But Bayern did not celebrate again the leveller. Heidenheim did.

Bayern loanee Arijon Ibrahimovic, who turned in a convincing display, raced clear when the visitors staged their last counter-attack. The exhausted Budu Zivzivadze pulled off another fine feint and curled past the helpless Jonas Urbig to make it 3-2 for Heidenheim with 14 minutes to go.

Bayern upped the ante even more, whipping numerous crosses into the box – one of them somehow finding Michael Olise ten minutes into added time. Post, goalkeeper’s back, equaliser – the ball forced in by the team, their coaches and the ceaselessly vocal crowd. The conclusion to a dramatic game that will boost Bayern’s energy for Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg. Everybody agreed: “Of course we could have done a lot better, but we mustn’t forget the lads did everything to avoid a defeat. We need to take that into the next game. Everything else are details we have to improve,” said Kompany.

‘On fire’ on Wednesday

“The lads will regenerate tomorrow, then we’ll have two days to prepare for Wednesday’s match, “ commented sporting director Christoph Freund. “This place will be on fire on Wednesday. I’m really fired up for the game, we want to advance to the final. Now it’s about gathering our strength, focusing and giving it everything on Wednesday,” said Goretzka. Even if it takes one last attempt, one last shot – and a bit of luck from the football gods.

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