Time to strap in for the first ever knockout round fixtures of this league to begin.
Welcome to the FC Bayern Campus Round Up, where the matches of Bayern Munich’s U-17, U-19 and U-23 squads are recapped, line ups are provided and the highlights to each match are hyperlinked on top of their respective score lines. Information on the matches is provided by the official FCBayern website here and here. Additionally, none of these matches can be viewed in full length without an FCBayernTV subscription. Without further ado, here is the round up:
TSV Buchbach 2-1 Bayern II (U-23s)
Bayern lineup: Schmitt – Scholze, Marušić (64. Scholl), Denk, Yanda – Becker (82. Darboe), Dell’Erba (60. Chávez) – Wagner, Della Rovere, Jensen – Unsöld (77. Demircan).
Unused substitutes: Pavlešić – Rüger, Brückner, Binder, Dalpiaz.
Goals: 1:0 Stoßberger (28.), 1:1 Unsöld (60.), 2:1 Bahar (63.).
There really is not much to say about this performance that would not repeat previous campus round ups. This was the same kind of sluggish, unimaginative performance punctuated by poor counter prevention that has plagued the U-23s for the entire season. There are positives- Max Scholze has fully recovered from his injury now, left back Julien Yanda showed some attacking intent and strong dribbling that created some decent chances, Samuel Unsöld has started scoring goals fairly regularly now after seriously underwhelming in the first half of the season and the high profile signing from LAFC Bajung Darboe got a few minutes at the end.
But the negatives just outnumbered the positives. The back four still does not look settled after the injuries, Yanda’s left side was repeatedly targeted and exploited to score the goals, Guido Della Rovere’s magic is making itself shown too infrequently, Jonathan Asp Jensen has fallen off from his lofty heights at the start of the season and missed two massive chances today, Becker looked particularly off the pace and not much worked.
There are 7 games left in the season. This team will neither get relegated or be promoted. Now is the time to regain some pride.
Bayern U-19 1-0 Schalke 04 U-19
Bayern lineup: Klanac – Dalpiaz, Puljić, Schäfer, Binder (89. Schuhbauer) – Mijatović, Santos (61. Ofli) – Nasrawe, Chávez, Sadat (71. Durakov) – Codjo-Evora (74. Zöls).
Goal: 1:0 Chávez (90.+1)
Unused subs: Stančić, Uhuns, Paylan
This was much better. Bayern welcomed dominant table toppers Schalke 04 to their home and came out with a victory that was more convincing than the 1-0 win would indicate. In recent weeks, the team’s play was rather stale and too safe. The pattern of passing the ball back and slowing the tempo to control the game before running out of options, playing a silly pass and losing the ball before being countered to death had been rather consistent over those weeks. But this was a better realized version of said possession game. There were more incisive runs from the midfield which opened up space in behind and dragged markers out of place, players held the width better and there was more consideration with the ball at the players’ feet, with the players not as hasty on the ball.
But this performance also came thanks to some inspired performances in difficult situations. Given the two day difference between the U-23s’ match and the U-19s’ match from Friday to Sunday, U-23 benchwarmers Tim Binder, Magnus Dalpiaz and Felipe Chávez all started this match. They were all great, even Binder, who played the less familiar role of LB instead of his usual winger position. The pairing of Ljubo Puljić and Luis Schäfer was rock solid throughout and showed great anticipation to stop the counters. This allowed nominal center back Roko Mijatović to step into the #6 role in midfield. The Croat has long been praised for his incredible vision and ability on the ball and he did not disappoint when asked to demonstrate it in midfield. Meanwhile, David Santos and Noah Codjo-Evora continued to impress following their return from injury. It was a phenomenal performance despite some injury issues and missing star man Lennar Karl against the dominant leaders of the group.
Speaking of which, this victory has sealed the Bayern U-19s’ spot in the top 4 of the group and progression into the next round of the league, given the 5 point lead over 5th placed Heidenheim. Remember, the top 4 of the group of 6 qualify for the next phase of the league. The phase in question, the last one, will now be a knockout competition, from the Round of 16 to the final, consisting of the best teams in Germany until the winner is crowned in the final. That will start soon.
Bayern U-17 2-2 TSG Hoffenheim U-17
Bayern lineup: Kösters – Ajayi (65. El-Chaar), Pavlić, Kiala, Moumouni – Schmid (60. Danioko), Lambe, Göttlicher – Chemwor (60. Egwuatu), Gashi (85. Matosevic), Hentcho Nseke (60. Snip).
Goals: 1:0 Gashi (31.), 1:1 Creta (52.), 2:1 Gashi (57.), 2:2 Biazid (64.)
A top of the table clash in the U-17’s own group of 6 saw Bayern welcome Hoffenheim to their home. The main man of the game was, of course, Yll Gashi, who netted both of Bayern’s goals with the cleverness and alertness that has characterized his play over the years. The U-17 captain has heavily impressed with 8 goals in 7 second phase games and he even scored for the U-19s the previous weekend. His diminutive size makes one stop and consider, but his striking instincts are top notch and his development will be exciting to watch.
This draw sees Bayern miss the chance to mathematically qualify for the next phase of the league, though with a 9 point and 12 goals goal difference lead over 5th placed Nürnberg with 3 games to go, the table toppers seem virtually assured to qualify eventually.
There was no 9-1 win like last weekend, unfortunately, but the round up of the rest of the Bayern youth games this weekend is here.
