Bayern dumped out of Cup by third-tier Saarbrucken
Bayern Munich suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at third-tier outfit Saarbrucken as the Bundesliga champion crashed out in the second round of the DFB-Pokal.
Thomas Tuchel’s men led through Thomas Muller’s 16th-minute effort, only to end up red-faced as their opponents pulled off a remarkable turnaround.
Patrick Sontheimer equalised in first-half stoppage time, and after Bayern failed to take a number of second-half opportunities, Marcel Gaus struck in added time to complete the giant-killing.
It made for some contrast to Bayern’s previous outing, the 8-0 demolition of Darmstadt at the Allianz Arena four days earlier in the Bundesliga.
Tuchel made five changes to his starting XI from that game, with top-scorer Harry Kane among those dropping to the bench.
It appeared business as usual for the visitors when two of those brought into the side combined to give them the lead just past the quarter-hour mark, Muller striking past Tim Schreiber having been teed up by Frans Kratzig.
But rather than the floodgates opening for Bayern – who were forced to take off Matthijs De Ligt due to an apparent knee injury in the 24th minute, with Konrad Laimer coming on – it was Saarbrucken showing the greater threat for the remainder of the first half.
Kasim Rabihic was to the fore, unable to make the most of a couple of chances with Manuel Neuer gathering the ball each time, before the home side equalised just prior to the interval, Kratzig losing possession and the ball coming to Lukas Boeder, whose pass set up a simple finish for Sontheimer.
After Leroy Sane twice saw efforts saved by Schreiber following the resumption, Tuchel opted to include him in a treble substitution on the hour that saw Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry enter the fray.
All three were soon trying their luck – a curling Musiala shot five minutes later was dealt with by Schreiber, who subsequently denied Gnabry, and the goalkeeper then did well to tip Coman’s strike over the bar.
Muller headed off-target and Coman saw another attempt parried by Schreiber as Bayern’s frustration continued.
Having survived that pressure, Saarbrucken then secured a famous victory by scoring their second in the sixth minute of added time, substitute Tim Civeja producing a cut-back and Gaus firing in to leave the illustrious opposition stunned.
