The fourth edition of the Paulaner Cup was en entertaining affair with a couple of dozen gilt-edged chances, two excellent goalkeepers and six goals in total. After 90 action-packed minutes an FC Bayern XI had beaten the Paulaner Dream Team 5-1 on an unforgettable evening for all involved.
Captain for the day Thomas Müller (36) finished off one of FCB’s host of chances in the first half to make it 1-0 at the break, before subs Milos Pantovic (69), Michael Eberwein (75, 79) and Xabi Alonso (85) netted in the final quarter of the game. Matthias Prünstner (71) pulled one back for the amateurs and actually caused a brief sensation as the score was only 2-1 at that point.
Even though the likes of Arjen Robben, Xherdan Shaqiri and Robert Lewandowski were already away with their national teams, Pep Guardiola sent out a star-studded eleven. World Cup winners Thomas Müller and Mario Götze were joined by Claudio Pizarro, Dante, Rafinha and Sebastian Rode in a team filled out by promising youngsters Gianluca Gaudino, Philipp Walter, Sinan Kurt and Mitchell Weiser.
The game got off to a worrying start for the men from Munich as Pepe Reina pulled a muscle in his left calf after only five minutes and was obliged to hand over to Tom Starke. But FCB immediately took control and began to create chances, only for Pizarro, Müller & Co either to graze the target, actually hit the goal frame or see shots saved by on-fire Dream Team keeper Christopher Kleiner.
Goals galore after the break
It took until the 36th minute for Müller to convert a Götze lay-off and chalk up an overdue lead. Müller, Götze and Pizarro gave way to Eberwein, Pantovic and Pohl for the second period but the pattern of the game remained the same, with the new Paulaner keeper and the post still contriving to prevent any further Munich goals.
Eberwein finally doubled the lead on 69 minutes, but Prünstner put one past Starke two minutes later and the whiff of an upset was in the air. However, the amateurs ran out of energy towards the end and Eberwein (75, 79) and Alonso (85) made sure of Bayern’s ultimately routine win. The result was of course of secondary importance on a festival evening at Unterhaching Sportpark.
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