Saarbrucken stun Bayern Munich with last-gasp winner in German Cup
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BERLIN – Bayern Munich crashed out of the German Cup in the second round for the third time in four years after a remarkable 2-1 loss at third-division Saarbrucken on Wednesday, thanks to a last-minute winner from Marcel Gaus.
With the scores locked at 1-1 and the match looking destined for extra time, defender Gaus netted in the sixth minute of injury time to grab his team a famous victory.
“When a first-division team like Bayern come to Saarbrucken and lose, then we did something wrong,” veteran Thomas Muller told ARD after the match.
Bayern were beaten by Holstein Kiel on penalties at the same stage in 2020, then thrashed 5-0 by Borussia Monchengladbach in the second round in 2021.
The record 20-time winners also lost in the quarter-finals at home to Freiburg last season.
“There could be 100 explanations or maybe none at all. We had injuries but some will say we should win anyway,” Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel said.
An “incredibly proud” home coach Rudiger Ziehl said he had told his players that Thursday’s training session was now “voluntary”.
He said: “If we don’t celebrate today, then we can never celebrate.”
Bayern, who travel to Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, lost central defender Matthijs de Ligt to a potentially serious knee injury early in the match, leaving the side with only one fit centre-back.
Six-time Cup winner Muller looked to have Bayern on the right track for a routine victory at their less-fancied opponents, before de Ligt injured his knee in a tussle soon after and signalled immediately to the bench.
The injury forced midfielder Joshua Kimmich into defence and appeared to put Bayern on the back foot against a resurgent Saarbrucken.
The hosts struck next, Patrick Sontheimer tapping in a pass from Lukas Boeder after Saarbrucken pressed midfielder Frans Kratzig into a mistake.
Tuchel brought on the cavalry, including Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry, but star striker Harry Kane stayed on the bench ahead of Saturday’s crunch match.
With the England captain warming up ahead of what looked like certain extra time, veteran defender Gaus popped up with a moment that will go down in Saarbrucken history.
Elsewhere, Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen scored three goals in the final five minutes to win 5-2 at third-tier Sandhausen.
A strike from Marco Reus gave Dortmund a 1-0 home win over Hoffenheim, while Freiburg were beaten 3-1 at home by second-division Paderborn. AFP
