When Liverpool’s Sadio Mane rounded keeper Manuel Neuer to make it 1-0, it was the beginning of the end for Bayern’s 2019 Champions League dreams.
Foto: imago images/Shutterstock
Well, Salzburg. An opponent they would no longer have talked about in Munich, probably not at all. One who is not even allowed to compete under his own name in the European football circus. In this special case, Uefa only grants this privilege to the Leipzig headquarters of the footballing Rotbrause empire, and only because RB in Leipzig officially stands for lawn ball sports. Thomas Müller was probably not even aware of what he was implying with his comment that Bayern had to “get the mia san mia out” against Salzburg. The complete quote goes like this: »Mia san mia, stronger than the bull«, and even more so than the red bulls from Salzburg. Hey, if Uefa hears that!
Bayern Munich international Thomas Müller scored a nice goal on Saturday, unfortunately against his own goalkeeper, it was 1-1 for the visitors from Leverkusen in the top game of the Bundesliga. Bayern were well served with this draw, and that doesn’t give them much courage for Tuesday’s second leg in the round of 16 of the Champions League at home against what is known in Europe as FC Salzburg. Even the first leg was no revelation and gave FC Bayern a flattering 1-1 draw just before the end. Nobody doubts Munich’s status as a favourite. But anyone who saw the cheeky Salzburg three weeks ago and Bayern on Saturday against Leverkusen can no longer rule out the possibility of an internal sensation in the Alps.
The memories go back to spring 2019, when Bayern had home advantage in the second leg of the round of 16 and a draw from the first leg. The opponent three years ago was Liverpool FC and it was a terrible evening for Munich’s self-image. Not so much because of the 1:3 defeat, something like that happens against a European heavyweight. Unfortunately, Liverpool didn’t even play very well, only had an average first half and also performed rather modestly in the second.
Nevertheless, Bayern just ran after them, they couldn’t think of anything else, neither on the pitch nor on the bench. If you need two goals ten minutes before the end and send the Portuguese Renato Sanches, who is awkward in a lovable way, onto the pitch, you couldn’t complain about pity. Liverpool showed a stable performance and yet never had to push their limits. Bayern Munich just wasn’t good enough for that. Too limited in thinking and execution for the appealing defensive performance in the first leg to be followed by an offensive equivalent.
It was the beginning of the end for Niko Kovac, the misunderstanding in the position of Munich head coach. The Croatian from Berlin’s working-class district of Wedding was allowed to lead Munich to the obligatory triumphs in the Bundesliga and the DFB Cup, but when the staff didn’t want to keep up the following season, his assistant took over the job. Under Hans-Dieter Flick, Bayern returned to mia-san-mia mode and stirred up the whole of Europe. At the European final tournament in Lisbon, a novelty conjured up by Corona, Bayern won 8-2 against FC Barcelona and in the final 1-0 against FC Paris Saint-Germain. No herd of bulls in the world could have stopped them back then, and certainly not a team from Salzburg, which is not even allowed to compete under its own name in Europe.
