Bayern lost at home for the first time in over a year against tenacious Anderlecht but progress to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals on a comfortable 6-2 aggregate.
The 63,000 crowd at the Allianz Arena saw the home side charge off the blocks and take an eighth-minute lead through Lucio, but Serhat Akin equalised out of the blue midway through the first half and Alexandr Iakovenko hammered the Belgians into a half-time lead as Munich’s early poise deserted them.
Half-time sub Franck Ribery injected urgency into the Bavarians’ play after the restart, but the weakened Anderlecht side showed resolve and determination in seeking to restore the pride so brutally taken from them in Brussels last week and hung on to claim a more or less deserved win, handing Munich only their second defeat in 37 competitive matches this term.
First start for Breno
Bayern boss Ottmar Hitzfeld is a known proponent of squad rotation, but the General took his policy to hitherto unseen levels with no fewer than nine changes to the side which beat Karlsruhe 2-0 on Saturday.
Messrs Rensing, Sagnol, Breno, Lahm, Ottl, van Bommel, Sosa, Kroos and Podolski came into the side in place of Kahn, Lell, van Buyten, Jansen, Demichelis, Schweinsteiger, Hamit, Ribery and Toni. The one truly new face was that of Breno, as the 18-year-old prodigy made his competitive debut alongside fellow Brazilian and captain for the night Lucio.
Shock lead for RSCA
After Norwegian referee Terje Hauge whistled play underway, Podolski hit the post from Klose’s slick pass with just 66 seconds played, setting the tone for a first twenty minutes when the Bundesliga leaders threatened to overrun their Belgian opponents.
Lucio duly powered home an eighth minute header from Sosa’s free-kick to hand the Reds an early lead, but Klose put two clear-cut chances wide and then elected to pass with only keeper Daniel Zitka to beat as Munich failed to press home their advantage.
Former Cologne man Akin accepted a fine lay-off by 18-year-old Ukranian Iakovenko to level with the visitors’ first shot in the 20th minute, and the match was an even affair after that until Iakovenko exploited Lahm’s slip on the corner of the 18-yard box to unleash a ripper of a drive which Rensing could only help into the net off the near post.
No way through
The young Ukranian dragged a shot across the face of goal and Akin tested Rensing as Bayern lived dangerously before the break, prompting Hitzfeld to introduce Ribery for Kroos at half-time. Davy Schollen took over in the RSCA goal for the injured Zitka and was immediately called upon to save from Klose and Ribery in short succession, although Rensing was also forced to tip Akin’s header over the bar in a lively opening to the second period.
But the Belgians skilfully contained the Germans for a long spell and Hitzfeld sent on Jan Schlaudraff in place of Ottl to try and liven things up in the last quarter of an hour. Ribery curled a free-kick narrowly over the bar, before Schlaudraff twice came close and Schollen raced from his goal to deny Podolski.
Ribery blasted across the face as the Reds sought to salvage at least a draw, but Anderlecht had dug in for the result now and duly inflicted Bayern’s first defeat at home for over a year and only their second of the season as a whole.
Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley
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