Bayern had not lost on their last five visits to Schalke, but somehow fashioned a defeat to the limited but ruthless home side on Saturday after utterly dominating the first hour of the match.
The 61,673 capacity crowd at the Veltins Arena, protected from the worst of the elements by the closed roof, saw the champions ease into their stride and create a host of presentable first-half chances, but home keeper Manuel Neuer was in blinding form, Mario Gomez missed a sitter, and Bastian Schweinsteiger hit the post. All the signs were positive for the visitors, but the game was unexpectedly and startlingly turned on its head by second-half strikes from José Jurado and Benedikt Höwedes, to which the flummoxed men in red ultimately had no answer.
A fourth league defeat of the season means the Bavarians slip to seventh in the Bundesliga standings on 23 points from 15 games, seven off second-placed Mainz and 14 behind leaders Dortmund, who play on Sunday. The men from Munich return to league action at home to struggling St Pauli next Saturday, 11 December.
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