4th matchday: Gladbach almost Bayern scare again – Sommer “best man”

Helpless and disappointed, the Bayern stars moved in front of the south curve and on their way clapped hands on the outstanding Yann Sommer from Gladbach.

The Borussia goalkeeper had almost driven the Munich Tor-Express to despair in his record game with a number of brilliant saves in 96 minutes – and at least gave the rest of the Bundesliga a little hope again. The guests from Mönchengladbach fought a 1:1 (1:0) in the top game in the Allianz Arena on Saturday evening.

Sommer “was the best man on the pitch today”

“We already know that Yann Sommer is always very good against us,” said Joshua Kimmich on Sky. “He was the best man on the pitch today.” Despite the result, Bayern’s performance was “almost better” than in the previous games. Marcus Thuram (43rd) scored after a blackout from Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano for a surprising half-time lead for Gladbach. “Very, very unhappy,” said Kimmich. “We had absolute control.”

Munich’s goal-and-win streak, which was so overwhelming at the start of the season, needed up to the 83rd minute this time before the strong Leroy Sané hit the target with a well-placed left-footed shot from Jamal Musiala. With ten points, Bayern maintained their lead in front of Union Berlin, who are tied. Gladbach has a good eight points.

75,000 spectators in the sold-out Allianz Arena couldn’t believe their eyes for a long time. Bayern seemed to have beaten themselves – at the back with a capital mistake by Upamecano when conceding a goal. And up front, the 15-goal machine of the first three matchdays faltered, the ball just didn’t find its way into the goal – until Sané struck.

Summer held world class

“Here in Munich you need a goalkeeper who can hold the unstoppable,” said Gladbach’s sporting director Roland Virkus. “Bayern Munich is the measure of all things, but you have seen that you can annoy them.” Sommer held world class in his 266th game, which made him the Swiss record player in the Bundesliga.

A highlight was the 61st minute, when star striker Sadio Mané failed twice free-standing in the seemingly invincible summer. Before the break, the Senegalese were denied two offside goals by video evidence (34th/39th minute). It was almost surreal how Daniel Farke’s hard-fighting Gladbachers initially withstood Bayern’s assault.

Before the game, there was a lot of talk about whether Gladbach were a “fear of opponents” for Bayern because of their good recent record against the record champions, including last year’s 5-0 cup gala. “The answer will be there on Saturday evening,” said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann and stated: “Our players are not afraid of any opponent, not even Gladbach.”

“Catastrophic Failure”

That’s how they played – but then defensive giant Upamecano made a serious mistake. The 23-year-old Frenchman, whom Nagelsmann preferred in defense to new signing Matthijs de Ligt, had one of those dropouts that had cast doubts on him last season. After a throw-in, Gladbach’s Christoph Kramer hit the ball up and forward from his own half. Upamecano wanted to clear it up easily, missed the ball – and Thuram irresistibly stormed towards the Bayern goal. The Frenchman also overcame the helpless national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. “Catastrophic mistake”, judged record national player Lothar Matthäus as a Sky expert.

The scene turned the game upside down and meant Bayern’s first deficit of the season. They should have been in the lead long ago. There was a kind of permanent siege of the Gladbach half. But Sommer made a splendid save from the first action with a header from Mané.

After the break, Bayern stormed towards their fans, who first celebrated with a spectacular choreography and later with a lot of smoking pyrotechnics for “50 Years of the South Curve”. There was chance after chance and shot after shot – and umpteen summer parades. Nagelsmann drew all the jokers, brought Serge Gnabry and Musiala, who was still slightly injured, and promptly prepared the Sané goal.