An indifferent victory over Paderborn raised the stakes for Hansi Flick, with a run in Europe potentially key to the interim manager keeping the job
It’ll be alright on the night, they hope. With such a tight race at the top of the Bundesliga, there shouldn’t really have been time for a Bayern Munich dress rehearsal as they get set to restart their Champions League campaign. Yet what they served up on Friday night’s game against Paderborn felt suspiciously like one.
There were plenty of fluffed lines. Bayern conceded not one but two improbable equalisers to visitors who were in the third tier the season before last, and whose annual playing budget is so small that nine first-teamers at the Allianz Arena each earn more than Paderborn’s entire squad put together. In the absences of Benjamin Pavard and Jérôme Boateng, the hosts experimented with three at the back but as Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Tim Brack pointed out, Manuel Neuer simply laughed wryly when asked if the plan might be revisited for Tuesday’s visit to Chelsea.
Related: 'I didn't know where to run': Chelsea's Champions League win over Bayern revisited
Manuel Neuer where are you off to?
The Bayern goalkeeper goes walkies, gets nutmegged, and Paderborn pull level just before half-time! pic.twitter.com/umTiMxVUVZ
Bayern Munich 3-2 Paderborn, Schalke 0-5 RB Leipzig, Werder Bremen 0-2 Borussia Dortmund, Freiburg 0-2 Fortuna Düsseldorf, Mönchengladbach 1-1 Hoffenheim, Hertha Berlin 0-5 Cologne, Wolfsburg 4-0 Mainz, Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Augsburg
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Bang
Simple as you like for Timo Werner - brilliant strike! pic.twitter.com/2j7eEhZaoI