The protagonists of FC Bayern Munich seemed annoyed after the surprising 2:2 (1:1) at Hamburger SV in the north-south classic: Harry Kane complained on the way to the dressing room. And sports director Max Eberl and Manuel Neuer were also irritated after the exhausting XXL January. Above all, the Bavarian leaders in the Bundesliga did not like the referee’s performance at all.
Eberl generally spoke on the TV channel Sky of a “referee who was a bit overwhelmed in my opinion. He didn’t assess many situations well. That’s my opinion.” He later followed up in the catacombs of the Volksparkstadion. According to Eberl, referee Harm Osmers “fell for a lot of HSV’s traps”. Bayern’s sports director related the statement to what he saw as the opponent’s practice of playing time.
“These ball boys just hold on to the ball.”
“The issue with the ball children also annoys me,” added Eberl. “I’ll be happy when we finally have this ball system where the balls just lie on the ground because these ball boys just hold on to the ball. That’s just annoying and ruins the game,” explained Eberl. But he also emphasized that the criticism should not be an excuse for the draw.
Before this season, the German Football League recommended placing the replacement balls on cones around the field. But it is not mandatory. The clubs handle it differently. In some stadiums the players now fetch the balls themselves, in others they rely on the ball children. So a uniform obligation could help.
Coach Vincent Kompany was somewhat milder in his criticism. A total of 16 minutes of injury time is evidence that something happened in the game. “I felt like obvious situations were just made complicated,” he said.
HSV coach Merlin Polzin did not agree with the criticism. Quite the opposite: You could see that the referee team “still tried everything to manage the game in the best possible way. So we are also very satisfied with the performance from HSV’s side,” said the young promotion coach. “We tried everything we could to play it down in a fair way. I think that’s also legitimate and was now far from unfair,” said Polzin.
“We have had a very, very complicated January”
Bayern’s draw does not yet indicate a serious crisis. But it at least made clear the German record champions’ longing for a long week of training without a break in the premier class. At the end of a busy month, Bayern seem to be gasping for air.
“We’ve now had a very, very complicated January behind us with these seven games in 20 days. We’re happy that it’s over now. And now we can relax a little bit from a mental point of view and calm down from a mental point of view,” said Eberl.
After the first league defeat of the season against FC Augsburg the previous week, the previously dominant Bayern remained winless against their next opponent from the bottom half of the table. Football Germany learned something within a week: FC Bayern is currently vulnerable. The question is: Are these just the aforementioned signs of wear and tear or the start of an uncomfortable trend?
Captain Manuel Neuer wanted to quickly brush aside a national mini-crisis. “We are in a good position,” assured the experienced goalkeeper. The 39-year-old referred to the furious 5-1 win in Leipzig at the end and the two Champions League victories against Union Saint-Gilloise (2-0) and in Eindhoven (2-1). Compared to the previous year, FCB saved two additional playoff games in the premier class in February.
Max Eberl: “We have to go through it”
For everyone who doesn’t support Bayern, the top game on Saturday evening was an entertaining treat. The Munich team had a lot of problems against a courageous and defensively toxic HSV. They also failed because of the crossbar and post of the HSV goal, their own inability in front of the goal and the defensive talent Luka Vuskovic, who played like he was unleashed, in the ranks of the Hanseatic League.
The Croatian, who was on loan to HSV from the English first division club Tottenham and is sought after across Europe, responded to the goals from Harry Kane and Luis Diaz with a powerful header – and brought HSV back into the game.
“For us, the draw obviously feels more like a defeat,” said Neuer. Especially since FCB conceded four of its 18 goals in the last two league games. Like the Augsburgers, the Hamburgers were a little better in terms of running and equal in intensity.
Bayern are now looking forward to a Champions League-free training week before the top game next Sunday (5.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN) against the strong TSG Hoffenheim. The dip in results doesn’t seem to make sports director Eberl nervous. The lead over Dortmund is still there. “This is a phase right now. We have to get through it,” said Eberl.
