Monchengladbach 3-2 Bayern Munich: For the fourth time this calendar year, Bayern Munich has spilled points in the Bundesliga.
Things went badly wrong for the visitors from Munich in the eighth minute. Dayot Upamecano ended up as the last defender in a sprint duel with Alassane Pléa. The Bayern defender seemed to want to avoid his compatriot at the last minute, but there was contact and Upamecano was sent off with a direct red card. Things quickly went from bad to worse for Julian Nagelsmann’s team. Lars Stindl struck from a smart free kick by Jonas Hofmann. The veteran placed the ball in the short corner out of reach of Yann Sommer, who came over from Gladbach in January: 1-0.
The early damage suffered by Bayern was reminiscent of the champions’ painful run in January. Then successively a draw was played against RB Leipzig, 1. FC Köln and Eintracht Frankfurt, which opened up the title battle again. It was all the more striking that Nagelsmann took a risk by rotating half a week after the great victory at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League ( 0-1 ). Matthijs de Ligt had started on the bench in Mönchengladbach and Daley Blind started for the first time in the base. In addition, Ryan Gravenberch had started a Bundesliga match for the first time.
After the early goal against and the red for Upamecano, the Bayern coach tried to restore balance by substituting João Cancelo for Thomas Müller. Bayern fought back and equalized in the 35th minute. After a stunning sprint from Alphonso Davies, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored from a low cross from the left wing defender: 1-1. Choupo-Moting’s eighth league goal of this season was supposed to be the start of the turnaround for Bayern.
Second half
At the start of the second half, two fresh forces came in with Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sané, at the expense of Gravenberch and Serge Gnabry. The ten looked for possibilities, but ran into the knife. With a wonderful combination, Gladbach took advantage of the large spaces that Bayern gave away. Hofmann launched Pléa and got the ball back from the Frenchman at exactly the right time in the penalty area, after which he pushed the ball into the far corner with his left: 2-1.
Substituting Matthijs de Ligt and seventeen-year-old attacker Mathys Tel was then in vain. Gladbach crossed the line against Bayern’s ten, where Blind was allowed to stay for ninety minutes. Marcus Thuram delivered the final blow on a pass from Hofmann in the 84th minute: 3-1. Tel’s connection goal (3-2) came too late to really create tension.
