FCBB lose twice, disappoint once

How does one talk about such a weekend? On Sunday morning, things still seemed to be great in the Bayern world. Sure, they lost their Euroleague opener in Barcelona but that loss was expected and turned out to be a lot closer than most would've predicted. An encouraging performance that was worthless 48 hours later.

Let's start with the inter-FCB fight. The roles were set in stone, Bayern, starting their second ever Euroleague campaign, were the clear underdogs against a Barcelona that reached the Final Four in five of the last six Euroleague seasons. Yet there still was a little bit of hope flying around in Munich, considering how well they had done against Real Madrid last year.

And it was close. Barça's biggest lead, early in the fourth quarter, was still a single-digit one at 9. At one point in the third quarter, Bayern were actually up by 5. It was a game between equal forces. Unfortunately, the favorites secured the win with a 83-81. The decisive moment of the game probably was a 14-0 run when Bayern failed to score a single point in four minutes. Did that cost them the win? Who knows. But it certainly hurt their chances. Massively.

A really good game despite the loss. Time to return to Munich and beat the promoted side, right? That is what should have happened. It didn't.

Bayern (4-0) were clear favorites against Göttingen (1-3) whose only win so far was against Crailsheim, also promoted but significantly more overwhelmed in this league. Even though this game was scheduled to start about 42 hours after the Euroleague fight had ended, nobody doubted the W staying in Munich, especially with Yassin Idbihi finally being able to play again.

If you are hoping for an explanation, you are at the wrong place. It all started in unspectacular fashion, Bayern had a 3-point lead at the end of the first quarter and that lead was only supposed to grow. For whatever reason, the opposite happened. Göttingen were the better team in practically every regard and dominated the second quarter, entering their locker room up by 5.

"Well then, they're probably exhausted and stuff. Now Pesic will yell at them until the rust falls off and it's still a 10-point win in the end. Kinda like against Frankfurt." - every Bayern fan at half time

Sounds reasonable but didn't happen. Göttingen continued to be the superior team, they shot much better than Bayern. That 10-point lead became reality but not for the home team. I could go on and on but to keep it short: Bayern never came close again. Whatever they threw at Göttingen, the underdogs knew the answer.

What does this loss mean for Bayern? Not too much yet. They're one of many teams with a record of 4-1, only Berlin are still undefeated. By the way, is it too early to make those guys favorites to win the title? They're very impressive.

Still, any loss can hurt your position and throwing away a game like this could very well be the difference between playing game 5 of the finals at home or away. Bayern now have to step up and avoid losses in the upcoming series of difficult games. Here's what's waiting for them:

Over the next 30 games, Bayern will play five Euroleague games and have to win at least two, preferably three of those. Furthermore, they'll also face four teams in the German league, with three of those (Bremerhaven, Berlin, Oldenburg) being absolutely capable of beating Bayern. Losses should be avoided under any circumstances.

Next up: Bayern against Panathinaikos (Euroleague) on Thursday, 8.45pm