Welcome to the FC Bayern Campus Round Up, where the matches of Bayern Munich’s U-23, U-19 and U-17 squads are recapped, line ups are provided and the highlights to the matches are hyperlinked on top of their respective score line. Remember, to watch highlights you need to have established an account on the website but do not need to spend any money. The DFB YouTube channel streamed the U-19’s game this weekend, so, provided one is not geo-blocked, the whole match can be viewed here.
Information on the matches of the U-23, U-19 and U-17 teams is provided by the official FC Bayern website here, here and here, respectively. If you wish to learn more about the format of the U-17 and U-19’s youth leagues and what is at stake, you can find more info here. Additionally, none of these matches can be viewed in full length without an FCBayernTV subscription. Without further ado, here is the round up:
Bayern line up (with subs): Bärtl – Ofli (59. Schuhbauer), Heindl, Puljić (88. Zöls), Manuba – Rüger (78. Chemwor), Deziel Jr., Sadat – Scott, Darboe, Yanda.
Goals: 1:0 Yanda (6.), 1:1 Mata (58.), 1:2 Nuhanovic (87.).
Unavailable players: Tim Binder, Leon Klanac, Steve Breitkreuz, Younes Aitamer, Louis Richter, David Santos Daiber, Artur Degraf, Benno Schmitz, Maycon Cardozo, Guido Della Rovere, Anton Heinz
Perhaps that is to be expected when so many players are missing and then you lose your top scorer as well. Last week’s bitter last minute loss to Würzburger Kickers saw star striker Anton Heinz given a straight red card and suspended for 3 matches. With him, Bayern lose around a third of all their goal scored this season and it was always going to be a challenge to overcome his absence as well as the absence of 10 other players as well as the enforced substitution on 60 minutes for Deniz Ofli to keep him potentially available for the senior squad.
But the team did make a good effort of it overall. Some deft play from Bajung Darboe, Mudaser Sadat and Kurt Rüger gave left winger Julien Yanda, formerly a left back, the chance to score his second league goal of the season. The team created multiple other chances throughout the match but predictably lacked a real clinical touch. And when a team fails to bury chances and is capable of making some bone headed mistakes at the back, a comeback is always possible.
Two such mistakes buried the U-23s. A lot of poorly thought out and executed challenges from Bayerm in the 58th minute saw opposition forward Mata given time and space in the box to make Bayern goalkeeper Jannis Bärtl look silly and squeeze the ball into the back of the net. Then Bärtl made another error by unnecessarily coming out, which allowed the opposition forward to lay it off to Nuhanović in space, who simply had to turn the ball home.
Borussia Mönchengladbach U-19s 2-2 Bayern U-19s, Matchday 9
Bayern line up (with subs): Prescott – Ajayi, Schäfer, Schmid, Lambe, Matosevic (83. Moumouni) – Olychenko (63. Pavlić), Snip (60. Mijatović) – Gashi (83. Hentcho Nseke) – Codjo-Evora, Egwuatu (60. Wilson) .
Goals: 0:1 Gashi (45.), 1:1 Koukkumäki (59.), 1:2 Wilson (61.) 2:2 Danfa (80.)
Unavailable players: Chivano Wijks, Wisdom Mike, Michel Ekodi, Cassiano Kiala, Chris Afanou
Going into the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayern knew that a victory, by way of how the fixtures would be played on the final day, would guarantee a top four spot and progression to the next round of league play. In another boost for the team, Raphel Pavlić recovered from his injury, was available for the match and even managed to play the lasy half hour. But if Bayern were to get the win, they would have to do it by traveling to the 2nd placed team in the group.
Perhaps that is why head coach Peter Gaydarov lined up with an unusually defensive formation. Bayern went 3 at the back, with wing backs Michael Matosevic and Richard Ajayi asked to push forward and provide the width and while the goal of the front three of winger Egwuatu and strikers Codjo-Evora and Yll Gashi was to find a way to harmonize.
Nothing harmonized in the first 15 minutes, though, as the team looked lost and unsure of how to do anything. The build up play was non existent and easily intercepted by the opposition. When the ball was inevitably turned over, the Bavarians’ pressing was poor and often very focused on one side, which allowed the technically strong Mönchengladbach side to simply push the ball back and forth, see the Bayern players chase and wait for the huge swathes of space to open up in the middle. The home wasted multiple high quality chances and should have scored 4 before the 20 minute mark. Opposition striker Iaia Danfa, the No. 7, was the main protagonist, as the incredibly speedy forward waged a personal duel with Bayern goalkeeper Leonard Prescott only to fail time and time again. But multiple one on ones and a strike against the post later, the U-19’s No.1 managed to maintain his clean sheet.
A change in plans helped even the playing field. Bayern decided to give up on short build up play and instead hit the ball long, bringing chaos into the match and making settled possession impossible for either side. This is of course not how Bayern are generally expected to play, but this strategy helped quell some of the danger from the hosts. They remained dangerous, but at least they did not cut through Bayern even few minutes anymore. Even though Mönchengladbach’s team is a year or two older on average, the Bavarians have multiple very physically dominant players. The likes of center back Allen Junior Lambe, Gashi and sometimes Leopold Schmid shined in this physical battle. Furthermore, the hectic nature of the contest allowed Ajayi to demonstrate his excellent crossing kills and even brought about the first goal of the game. A clipped pass forward bounced and rebounded kindly until it found its’ way to Gashi, who took the ball, turned past his defender in the box and cleverly used a bit of contact from the defender to fall and win himself a penalty on the stroke of half time. The team’s No. 9 stepped up and duly converted to give Bayern the 1-0 half-time lead.
Further adjustments brought further relief to Bayern. Codjo-Evora, who often dropped deep to no avail, was positioned as more of a focal point up front. This role brought him in to the match a lot more and helped secure some long passes from Bayern. Still Mönchengladbach threatened. Since Bayern were down to just 2 midfielders for the sake of the 3 at the back formation, they would be repeatedly outnumbered and eventually the hosts took advantage of it in the 59th minute. Shambolic positioning allowed two passes from a Mönchengladbach goal kick to bypass the midfield entirely and leave the opposition forward 3 on 3 against the Bayern defenders. From there, Prescott still managed to make a save but the rebound was put in. 1-1.
Two Bayern substitutes in Roko Mijatović and Oluwaseyi Wilson then entered the field, both of whom are still on their ways back from long term injuries after missing nearly the entire season. That made Bayern’s immediate response so emotional: With seconds of the substitutes entering the field, Richard Ajayi received the ball on the left. The left back’s crossing had been a real weapon all match and he curled in another beauty that the speedy Wilson was able to get on to and divert into the back of the net to make it to 2-1 for Bayern in the 61st minute to immediately store the team’s advantage. The overjoyed reaction of the 18-year-old and his teammates said it all: It had been a tough season due to injury, so everyone was delighted to see him get a goal.
Of course, the injury gods could not let such joy go without punishment. Immediately after the goal, Bogdan Olychenko sprinted back and made a superb interception but motioned that he had hurt himself as soon as the ball went out of play. The physio came over and gave a thumbs up while Olychenko jogged to the bench, so there is hope that the issue is not that bad. Yet the exciting Ukrainian footballer was still replaced by Pavlić.
From there on, the game truly became end to end stuff. Bayern took advantage of Glasbach’s desperation, sat back and aimed to use Wilson’s pace to take advantage of counters. Codjo-Evora missed a 1v1 and Gashi’s sharp opportunistic strike was kept out by the opposition goalkeeper as Bayern missed the chance to build a cushion. The hosts, meanwhile, kept getting forward and into Bayern’s penalty area but could not trouble Prescott. The most he had to work during this period was when a ball rebounded awkwardly out of the penalty area, prompting him to coolly dribble past a forward and keep possession.