Bayern Munich end winter break with pedantic 2-1 loss to Karlsruher FC

Bayern Munich's winter break is now over and they finished it in ignominious fashion, losing 2-1, after a Karlsurher counterattack saw Jerome Boateng concede a penalty and then be sent off. It was a match that seemed more a chore than a true warmup for the Rückrunde as for both halves Bayern spent much of the match content to just play kick about.

Karlsruher got the proceedings started in the 17th minute with a lovely counterattack to handily beat Manuel Neuer. It wasn't their only counterattack of the half though as Pep Guardiola's highline was butchered by some poor midfield positioning and the pace of the Karlsruher attack.

Bayern equalized minutes later through a lovely curling effort from Arturo Vidal that he slotted into the upper corner from 25 yards out.

It wasn't the greatest of days for Bayern though as they looked extremely rusty and lethargic for much of the match. Their midfield structure was lackadaisical on defense for the most part, and directly lead to several occasions where the Karlsruher attack beat the entire Bayern Munich defense to go 1v1 with Manuel Neuer.  Second-half substitute Jerome Boateng's penalty on exactly one of these situations was just the icing on the cake for Karlsruher.

Overall, it was a game bereft of truly meaningful play and it was extremely clear Bayern Munich were really just interested in this match as a fitness test after a month long vacation. But sometimes fitness tests come with a high price as Rafinha's withdrawal with a non-contact injury in the second half stands out like a blemish on what was an otherwise drab game.