FC Bayern Munich loses at Borussia Mönchengladbach after red

Julian Nagelsmann was beside himself as he ran through the aisles of Borussia Park after the final whistle. “He’s kidding me, hey,” he roared, and it was certainly no coincidence that he allowed himself this small outburst of anger in front of the reporters present.

“That can’t be true,” the coach yelled after his Bayern Munich team lost 3-2 at Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 35-year-old football coach was furious that his defender Dayot Umpamecano was sent off with a red card early in the game.

“It’s just not red,” Nagelsmann said angrily, while Gladbach’s sports director Roland Virkus found the decision “undisputed”. In any case, this dismissal had a decisive impact on the game, and Nagelsmann has to endure a new episode of a series that was very unpleasant for him.

He has now played five times with Munich against Mönchengladbach and has never won. This game had actually started quite well for Bayern. They acted dominantly, and the uncertainty of the Gladbachers, who were heavily criticized after a 1:4 defeat at Hertha BSC, was clearly visible.

“We could have decided the game in the first seven minutes, so we definitely have to be 2-0 up,” said Nagelsmann in view of the three or four promising attacks that weren’t consistently played to the end. But the eighth minute of the game changed everything: after a long ball, Upamecano and Gladbach attacker Alassane Pléa sprinted, who stumbled after a rather gentle contact with his hand on his shoulder and fell. Referee Tobias Welz rated the action as an emergency brake and the VAR did not intervene.

The free-kick that followed was not crowned, but before Nagelsmann had substituted a new defender, Lars Stindl scored the 1-0 for Mönchengladbach (13 ‘) after a clever free-kick put back by Jonas Hofmann on the edge of the penalty area. From then on, Borussia kept finding large spaces for their own attacking actions and created good chances. Stindl missed the best one when, after a cross pass from Manu Koné, he got a free shot in the area of ​​the penalty spot, but the shot just missed the post (24’).

Nagelsmann had meanwhile taken his captain Thomas Müller off the field, Joao Cancelo came and took over the right-back position from Benjamin Pavard, who moved into the defensive centre. Nagelsmann spoke of a “crappy decision” because he would have liked to have spared Müller this substitution. And maybe also because a clever organizer of the offensive actions would have helped in the further course of the game.

But Bayern found themselves again and were equal in many phases despite being outnumbered. They pressed boldly and did not quite undeservedly equalize. After 34 minutes, Alphonso Davies used a mistake made by Stefan Lainer to attack down the left wing and found Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting in the centre, who scored to make it 1-1.

“worried to the end”

It was now an unusual game constellation: Bayern stuck to their daring style of play, while Borussia countered with a majority. However, coach Daniel Farke’s ensemble wasted several excellent starting situations due to inaccuracies or less good decisions in the attacking process. “We played it almost too wildly and left a lot behind,” complained the coach, “that’s why I was worried until the end”.

In the phase after the break, the game could have gone either way; Munich could also have taken the lead when a 16-metre shot by Joshua Kimmich flew just over the Gladbach goal. The goal was then scored by the team from the Lower Rhine: Jamal Musiala lost the ball deep in his own half of the field, Pléa put it across to Hofmann, who pushed the ball into the goal from ten meters (55′).

The longer the game lasted, the more tired the Munich team, who played a strenuous Champions League game at Paris St Germain during the week, seemed. Ramy Bensebaini hit the crossbar after an hour, Hofmann narrowly missed the goal from a tight angle (76′) and when Marcus Thuram made it 3-1 after a pass from Hofmann (84′), the game was decided.

Because the 3:2 by Mathys Tel (90+3) came too late. “These are very important three points,” said Gladbach coach Daniel Farke, “that’s really good for the table but also for the whole mood.” The already rather turbulent situation at FC Bayern, on the other hand, tends to get worse after this defeat.