Freiburg (dpa) – A curious change mistake by FC Bayern has pushed Leon Goretzka’s brilliant comeback to the side after a forced break of almost four months. In the 4: 1 (0: 0) at SC Freiburg, the sovereign Bundesliga leaders played for a few seconds with twelve professionals and now has to fear an aftermath. Kingsley Coman hadn’t left the field just before the end of Saturday afternoon, but Marcel Sabitzer had already entered the field. “It was a confusing situation,” said referee Christian Dingert, adding: “It’s very annoying that this one scene from such a great game got stuck.”
Dingert had interrupted the game when Freiburg pointed out to him, with sometimes angry protests, that Munich were outnumbered. Only after a while did the referee continue the game, but later noted what had happened in his report to the German Football Association. “Everything else will be decided by the DFB,” he said.
“It was a bit bizarre,” said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann. “The wrong number was shown and Kingsley didn’t know he was supposed to leave the field. There was a lot of discussion then, which isn’t surprising.” Dingert explained that Bayern team manager Kathleen Krüger had given the wrong number and that this was also noted.
Bayern don’t have to expect an objection, at least from the Freiburg side, coach Christian Streich confirmed: “We don’t have to do that, because we are subject to a set of rules.” According to these rules, consequences for the game rating are probably not very likely, especially since nothing decisive happened during the short majority.
Nagelsmann’s joy did not cloud the confusion. He was satisfied with his team’s performance for the most part, although Bayern only got going in the second half. Goretzka with a header (58th), Serge Gnabry (73rd), Coman (82nd) and Sabitzer (90th + 6) scored. For the hosts, Nils Petersen scored his 100th competitive goal for the Sport-Club just one day after his contract extension. “When you see who was on the opposing team’s pitch, you can’t afford to make the mistakes we made,” said Streich, whose team suffered a setback in the fight for a place in Europe.
The hosts started concentrated, although Streich had complained that the preparation was not optimal due to the many missing players. New national player Nico Schlotterbeck, who is said to have aroused the interest of some top clubs, directed his fellow players, leaving Bayern little room to develop.
The people of Breisgau were rarely even dangerous. Their standard strength had probably gotten around to Munich. Nagelsmann’s players avoided dead balls from Freiburg in the Munich half until the 31st minute. With 20 goals they are the most dangerous team in the league in this category. But with the first corner kick, Manuel Neuer was the winner in a duel with Roland Sallai.
In the second round, both teams met each other the way Streich had wished – on an equal footing. The first negligence was then promptly punished. Goretzka headed in after a free kick. But Freiburg had an answer ready. Petersen scored less than 20 seconds after coming on.
In a hectic phase, Gnabry put Bayern back in the lead, Coman made the decision. In stoppage time, Sabitzer set the final point. “We showed patience and in the end I’m happy for Leon, who didn’t have an easy time. He’s doing us a lot of good and did a good job,” said Nagelsmann. He no longer wanted to deal with the change error.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220402-99-772106/4
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