Bayern Munich will feel as though they dropped another two points in this season’s Bundesliga title race when they were held to a 1-1 draw with Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Hansi Flick’s side were already decimated by injuries ahead of the tie, when Corentin Tolisso picked up an injury on international duty to join Alphonso Davis and Joshua Kimmich on the injury list.
Such misfortune meant Flick was forced to play Javi Martinez and 17-year-old Jamal Musiala in the middle of the pitch. Yet a further injury to Lucas Hernandez 19 minutes into the game meant the Bayern manager then had to bring Leon Goretzka on and move Martinez into a makeshift defence.
As such, Bayern looked far from their best. In the opening half Bremen seemed perfectly comfortable going toe-to-toe with their hosts and just before half time Joshua Sargent turned Martinez after a long throw-in and squared the ball to Maximilian Eggestein in the box to fire home.
Bayern looked more like themselves after the break and quickly turned their dominance into an equalising goal. With more than enough time and space, Goretzka received the ball on the edge of the Bremen box and picked out Kingsley Coman at the back post with a cross to allow the French forward to head from just a few yards out.
It was at this point that Bayern were expected to go on and claim all three points, as Flick threw on Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting moments after the equaliser. For all of the remarkable talent on the pitch, a clear and obvious chance to win the game and claim all three points never materialised for the home side.
Choupo-Moting came closest with a close-range shot that ended up over the bar, but it was Bremen that had the best chance to claim a late winner when Sargent was played through one-vs-one against Manuel Neuer with three minutes left on the clock. Despite the Bremen forward thrashing at the ball from close range, Neuer got a hand to it and knocked it wide.
Having now dropped five points from their opening eight Bundesliga games, Flick may look back on this match as one that he perhaps took for granted before a ball had been kicked. And Bremen made sure they were taken seriously.
Key Events
Bayern Munich 1-1 Werder Bremen: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats
Substitute in, Tahith Chong.
Substitute out, Milot Rashica.
Yellow card for Jiří Pavlenka.
Substitute in, Jean-Manuel Mbom.
Substitute out, Kevin Möhwald.
Substitute in, Felix Agu.
Substitute out, Leonardo Bittencourt.
Substitute in, Serge Gnabry.
Substitute in, Leroy Sané.
Substitute in, Maxim Choupo-Moting.
Substitute out, Kingsley Coman.
Substitute out, Douglas Costa.
Substitute out, Jamal Musiala.
Assist given by Leon Goretzka.
Goal by Kingsley Coman.
Assist given by Josh Sargent.
Goal by Maximilian Eggestein.
Yellow card for Ludwig Augustinsson.
Yellow card for Leonardo Bittencourt.
Substitute in, Leon Goretzka.
Substitute out, Lucas Hernández.
Yellow card for Benjamin Pavard.