Bayern Munich II draw first Bavarian Derby of season against Türkgücü Munich

In the first of EIGHT Bavarian Derbies this season, Bayern Munich II settled for a 2-2 draw with newly promoted Türkgücü Munich. Despite taking a late lead, Bayern II were unable to hold on to beat their Grünwalder Stadion-sharing opponents.

Türkgücü got their first goal of the season in the 10th minute when Feldhahn’s poor touch in the Bayern penalty area was eventually converted into a goal by Sercan Sararer. Bayern II would equalize in the 23rd minute. Fiete Arp’s cross was deflected into the path of Adrian Fein who easily slotted the ball home near post.

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Bayern II would take the lead in the 72nd minute when Joshua Zirkzee fed a streaking Timo Kern into the penalty area. The veteran poked the ball in to the back of the net to give Bayern II the 2-1 advantage. Türkgücü would equalize in the 81st minute when Bright Arrey-Mbai lost Marco Holz out wide left, and the veteran beat Ron-Thorben Hoffmann for the equalizer.

Bayern XI: Hoffmann - Arrey-Mbi, Feldhahn, Richards, Waidner - Stiller, Fein, Musiala (65. Welzmüller) - Tillman, Arp (65. Kern), Zirkzee (82. Dajaku)

This was an important start to the 3.Liga season for Türkgücü. In less than a decade, the club has advanced into the 3.Liga from the eighth division. The progress Türkgücü has shown (without the excesses of a insanely rich sugar daddy like Hoffenheim or RB Leipzig) is nothing short of incredible for the game.

Next Saturday, Bayern II will host another newly promoted team in SC Verl.

It’s a season of big change for Bayern II. Following the loans of Christian Früchtl (Nürnberg), Sarpreet Singh (Nürnberg), Oliver Batista Meier (Heerenveen), Lukas Mai (Darmstadt) and the departures of Derrick Köhn and Otschi Wriedt to Willem II, Holger Seitz (Oh, yeah, Sebastian Hoeneß left for Hoffenheim.) has the new task of turning another cast of mostly young players from boys into men.

The average age of the starting lineup played by Seitz in this match was only 20 years old. It included two 17-year-olds (Jamal Musiala, Bright Arrey-Mbai), one 18-year-old (Malik Tillman), three 19-year-olds (Joshua Zirkzee, Dennis Waidner, Angelo Stiller), two 20-year-olds (Chris Richards, Fiete Arp), and two 21-year-olds (Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, Adrian Fein). In fact, the only person in the starting eleven over the age of 21 was club captain Nicolas Feldhahn who just turned 34 in August.

Yes, a few of those players do have experience at higher levels; however, they’re still mostly kids and still learning their craft. Seitz’s ability to continue to mold them into future professionals while also keeping Bayern II in the 3.Liga for another season.

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