With the Bundesliga title already secured and the only thing to play for being pride, Bayern Munich came into this match looking for their first Bundesliga win April 25th. And that was not something they were able to reclaim as two complete defensive collapses saw SC Freiburg earn all three points to boost their hopes in battle against relegation.
Bayern Munich opened the scoring in the13th minute as Mitchell Wesier nutmegged Christian Güntner on the right wing, slipping easily behind the Freiburg defense before easily picking out the late run of Bastian Schweinsteiger for the tap in. For the Bayern captain, who made his 500th Bundesliga appearance today, it was a fitting way to open the evening. It was also yet another reminder that with Mitchell Weiser's contract expiring this summer, that Matthias Sammer and the Bayern board still haven't signed him to a new contract. And about the only valid excuse at this point is perhaps that Matthias Sammer has been in the shower for the past 4 weeks.
With Freiburg under almost constant pressure, it was just after the 30th minute that Freiburg put together a decent spell of possession. But it was for niaght as they gave the ball back to Bayern. Lukcily, the cruel hand of fate in the form of a poor pass from Schweinsteiger gave the ball right back to Admir Mehmedi who slalomed 3 wrong-footed Bayern defenders before firing a driven strike into the bottom corner. 1-1 read the scoreline and 0% read the chance Manuel Neuer could surpass Oliver Kahn's Bundesliga record for clean sheets.
Despite the duo of goals, much of the first half was dominated by Bayern Munich. They found consistent and easy ways to break apart the Freiburg defense and only a stalwart performance from the Freiburg centerbacks was able to keep Bayern out of the shooting lanes. At those moments when they did break, Roman Burkii was there to clean up the danger. At basal level, the interplay between Schweinsteiger and Götze on the left was integral in advancing play down that flank, while the high flying speed of Mitchell Weiser on the left was the main route of attack. In the middle of the park, Bayern Munich did next to nothing as Freiburg locked down Sebastian Rode and cut out passing lanes for Xabi Alonso.
In the 58th minute, the game was rocked by controversy as Freiburg put together a stellar attack that saw a free cross lay across the face of goal towards a free Admir Mehmedi. But Rafinha blatantly shoved the Swiss striker to the ground and despite the protestations, and a staged sit-in by Mehmedi, no foul was called. Bayern certainly got away with one.
Shortly after 60 minutes, Pep Guardiola withdrew the ineffective Xabi Alonso and replaced him with Thomas Müller. Alonso had registered 145 touches so far in the match, but hardly had any forward impetus in his game.
As the second half moved along, both Bayern and Freiburg found themselves with chances at either end. But like a slowly ticking bomb, the relegation clock ticked on a Freiburg side who attempted to gain every advantage on the ball. The game became chippier as both the Freiburg offense and Bayern defense knocked away at each other both sides committing fouls left and right whenever Freiburg came forward.
But right before full time, it was Freiburg who struck the final blow. An attack down the right saw Karim Guede beat and open up space on Juan Bernat before hitting a long cross to the feet of former Bayern striker Nils Petersen. The former Bayern striker had easily beaten a napping Jerome Boateng before slotting the shot around Manuel Neuer to earn Freiburg all three points. For the striker who has been an off-the-bench talisman for Freiburg in the last since months, it was seemed to be written in the stars that he would ease their path to avoiding relegation.
Match Details
SC Freiburg (2-1) Bayern Munich | Allianz Arena
Bayern: Schweinsteiger (13')
Freiburg: Mehmedi (33'), Petersen (89')
Bayern XI: Neuer – Rafinha, Benatia, Boateng, Bernat – Alonso (Müller 64'), Rode (Lahm 72'), Schweinsteiger(Thiago 72) - Götze, Weiser - Lewandowski
Freiburg XI: Burkii - Mujzda (Philipp 84'), Krmas, Mitrovic, Günter - Schmid, Höfler, Darida, Klaus (Frantz 73') - Mehmedi (Petersen 86'), Guede
Instant Analysis
- Bayern's defensive fragility at the back has continued in this match. Benatia and Boateng swapped sides in this match with Bentia on the left and Boateng on the right, but neither of the duo played well. They were structurally unsound and frequently out of position allowing Freiburg to put together dangerous attacks and find small veins of space in which to operate.
- Bayern Munich are now "winless" -- in that though they won their second leg against Barcelona, they still dropped out of the Champions League -- since the 25th of April and their 1-0 win over Hertha BSC. That's a sequence of six games in which Bayern Munich has been outscored 11 to 5.