What better way to shake off a loss to Bochum than by getting through to the UCL quarterfinals?
Bayern Munich’s 125th birthday celebrations at the Allianz Arena were spoiled by the 3-2 loss to VfL Bochum on an occasion where Vincent Kompany made a handful of squad rotations ahead of leg 2 in the Champions League round of 16 against Bayer Leverkusen. Having led Bochum 2-0, Bayern went on to concede three unanswered goals and their task was made all the more difficult when midfielder João Palhinha was given a straight red card in the 42nd minute for an unintentional stamp on Bochum’s Georgios Masouras.
Harry Kane felt he deserved a penalty call in the sequence that eventually led to Bochum’s winner in the 71st minute, but the referee deemed there was not enough to award the England skipper a spot kick, putting the icing on the frustration cake for the German Rekordmeister.
Thankfully for Bayern, Leverkusen also lost to Werder Bremen in a simultaneous kickoff, so the gap at the top of the Bundesliga table stays at 8 points for the time being. After the match, Kane emphasized the focus now shifting to finishing the job against Leverkusen in the Champions League, which is also an opportunity to shake off the frustration from having lost to 16th-placed Bochum at home.
“For us, it’s a chance to react. Whenever we’ve lost so far, we’ve gone into the next game with fire in our bellies,” Kane stressed to az’s Kilian Kreitmair (via @iMiaSanMia). Personally, Kane will be looking to find the back of the net for at least a third time against Leverkusen, having scored a brace from the first leg in the 3-0 win.
For Bayern, this could be, as Kane alluded to, another chance to respond well to a poor result. Earlier this season, they have responded to the Feyenoord loss with a win over SC Freiburg, the Mainz loss with a big win over RB Leipzig, the 1-0 DFB-Pokal loss to Leverkusen with a win over Heidenheim, and the 4-1 Champions League loss to Barcelona with a big win over Bochum. For the sake of leg 2 in the Champions League round of 16 against Leverkusen, they’ll be hoping to repeat that pattern of recording wins after disappointing results.
Looking for more thoughts and discussion surrounding Bayern Munich’s shocking loss to VfL Bochum? What about how we feel heading into another showdown with Bayer Leverkusen? Did Bayern Munich blow €80 million in 2024? We’ve got all of that, plus how we feel about Joshua Kimmich most likely having a new deal in place on the Bavarian Podcast Works Show! You can get the podcast on Patreon, Spotify, or below.
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