Bayern Campus Round Up, November Edition Part 5: Losing to the worst teams in the league

Welcome to the FC Bayern Campus Round Up, where the matches of Bayern Munich’s U-17 and U-23 squads are recapped, line ups are provided and the highlights to the U-23 and U-19 matches are hyperlinked on top of their respective score line. Unfortunately, Bayern did not release the highlight for the U-17 match. Information on the U-23, U-19 and U-17 matches 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, 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:

Schwaben Augsburg 2-1 Bayern II (U-23s), Matchday 17

Bayern line up (with subs): Klanac – Nasrawe, Heindl, Dettoni, Schmitz (46. Schuhbauer) – Ličina, Deziel Jr., Heinz – Darboe (46. Della Rovere), Meier, Degraf (71. Scott).

Unused subs: Bärtl – Richter, Dalpiaz, Puljić, Mergner.

Goals: 1:0 Sodji (2.), 2:0 Keereerom (20.), 2:1 Schuhbauer (61.).

Unavailable players: Steve Breitkreuz, Javier Fernández, Younes Aitamer, Roko Mijatović, Felipe Chàvez, Kurt Rüger, Vincent Manuba, Tim Binder, Julien Yanda

Position: 11., 24 points

There is at least a smidge of good news. Michael Scott and Benno Schmitz both made their comebacks from injury, with the latter even able to last the entire first half. Schuhbauer, trying to establish himself as the team’s dominant right back, continued to demonstrate his knack for scoring goals with a great solo effort.

But the positives end there. Binder and Yanda are the latest to miss out with injuries, while the pre-match report states that Fernandez suffered a training set back, meaning he is still yet to return after his injury in January. On the pitch, it was just as bleak. After some shoots of promise in the previous match, Bayern’s U-23s stumbled yet again. More egregiously, this defeat came at the hands of Schwaben Augsburg, who were dead last in the league before the matchday. They still are last in the table after this win, having collected just their 2nd win this season (c0nsisting of 19 matches) against the Bavarians.

Nor was this some kind of smash and grab victory. The hosts fully deserved their win, constantly causing chaos in the Bayern penalty box with direct passing and emphasizing their physical superiority. On the Bayern side, the same issues of weak duelling, lack of attacking patterns, players performing far under their capabilities and panicked defending remained. How long will head coach Holger Seitz remain in the hot seat, especially considering his stodgy style of play?

Stuttgarter Kicker U-19 3-2 Bayern U-19, Matchday 11

Bayern line up (with subs): Kösters – Cardozo (75. Afanou), Lambe, Schäfer, Ofli – Matosevic, Santos, Snip (58. Moumouni) – Chemwor (58. Hentcho), Gashi (58. Egwuatu), Mike.

Goals: 1:0 Fahrbach (50.), 2:0 Elmas (55.), 3:0 Elmas (72.), 3:1 Egwuatu (77.), 3:2 Matosevic (88.)

Unavailable players: Noah Codjo-Evora, Oluwaseyi Wilson, Michel Ekodi, Chivano Wijks, Moritz Göttlicher, Leonard Prescott, Raphael Pavlić, Bogdan Olychenko

Position: 1., 22 points

Bayern II did not fall alone, however. Determined to go down in solidarity with their seniors- or something like that- Bayern’s U-19s also contrived to lose against the team at the bottom of the table. Having thrashed Stuttgarter Kickers 7-1 just two months ago, they were 3-0 down by the 72nd minute and contrived to lose the match 3-2 in the end.

There are mitigating factors, to be fair. The injury list has ballooned in recent weeks, with 8 players unavailable for this match. Bayern did also play some good football at times and probably created more chances than the hosts. This does not really hurt the Bavarians’ position in the table, either.

But it was all round a fairly disappointing match, defined by the Bavarians’ struggle in building up play. Time and time again the team could not free themselves from the first phase of Stuttgart Kickers’ pressing. Nor did they clear the ball away, though. They kept giving the ball away in dangerous positions time and time again, unable to make any adjustments to their structure to progress the ball better. The duo of Maycon Cardozo and Allen Junior Lambe, having recently extended his contract, were both playing out of position at right back and center back respectively, and it showed very often.

Despite playing some genuinely decent football during the times that the opposition press did not kill their build up, Bayern’s defense continued to look very unsteady and the give aways usually led to danger in the Bayern box. This all resulted in a rather see-saw match. Wisdom Mike missed a one-on-one, Cardozo did not hit the ball right after a glorious passing combination and Yll Gashi should have squared the ball for an easy finish but Kickers hit the post twice in an all action first half. Unfortunately, two quick goals after half time rather quickly turned the game in favor of the hosts before the third goal decided the match at 3-0. Credit to the Bavarians for fighting until the whistle and scoring two goals to reduced the arrears to 3-2, but the damage was already done.

Fortunately, as mentioned above, the result did not hurt Bayern’s spot in the table. In fact, because Freiburg’s U-19s lost as well, Bayern are still 3 points and a +9 goal difference ahead of their rivals from the Breisgau with one match remaining. Essentially, Bayern have first place locked up already.

Bayern U-17 5-2 SC Freiburg U-17, Matchday 14 (final)

Bayern line up (with subs): Podar-Stiube – Ajayi, Pucci, Pavić, Horvath (73. Kerschberger) – Danioko (73. Hentcho), Osmani (61. Zogaj), Horoszczak (87. Zubovic), El-Chaar – von Taube (87. Burghardt), Schaff (62. Babl)

Goals: 1:0 Kuba Horoszczak (1.), 2:0 Philipp von Taube (38.), 2:1 Amankona (49.), 3:1 Leeron Danioko (54.), 4:2  Aviel Hentcho Nseke (86.), 5:2  Aviel Hentcho Nseke (89.)

Position: 1., 36 points

On the day before U-17 Co-trainer Florian Mayer celebrated his 26th birthday, the U-17s managed to finish the first half of their campaign with a dramatic 5-2 victory over SC Freiburg’s U-17s. This win sees the Bavarians qualify for the next round of the league and finish with a respectable 36 points from 14 games.