Bayern Munich’s Unbeaten Run Ends After 53 Matches
Bayern Munich suffered a 1-0 away defeat by FC Augsburg today in what was their first loss in 53 Bundesliga games and Josep Guardiola’s first defeat in his 29 Bundesliga games.
“The Bundesliga is over for us – our main goal is now the Champions League,” Guardiola had said ahead of the Augsburg match, and he made plenty of changes to the side that drew 1-1 at Manchester United FC on Tuesday.
Arjen Robben, Franck Ribéry and Philipp Lahm were rested, while 19-year-old Ylli Sallahi made his Bundesliga debut, and both 18-year-old Pierre Højbjerg and 19-year-old Mitchell Weiser made their first league starts.
It took a noteworthy performance from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to keep Augsburg at bay but he had no chance in the 31st minute as Sascha Mölders put Augsburg ahead.
Bayern however looked more dangerous as Mario Götze, David Alaba and Thomas Müller came on after the break, but while Alaba hit the woodwork, Bayern could not avoid their first Bundesliga defeat since a 2-1 home loss against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in October 2012.
The German champions are now without a win in three games in all competitions, but Neuer was unconcerned after the final whistle, saying: “We didn’t field our first team today. It was important for us that nobody got injured today. We play Manchester on Wednesday – nothing else matters.”
Thomas Müller had a slightly different opinion: “It does hurt a little bit to have this run come to an end. We wanted to maintain that perfect record. We knew that it wouldn’t be an easy game in Augsburg, but it certainly wasn’t the plan to lose here.”
“You can’t win them all in football,” shrugged Guardiola. “We have to accept the defeat and start to prepare for our final against Manchester on Wednesday. It’s a true final – a matter of life or death.”
