It was a good day to be a fan of Bayern’s most well-known young players.
Welcome to the FC Bayern Campus Round Up, where the matches of Bayern Munich’s U-17 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 FC Bayern website here and here and here for the U-23s, U-19s and U-17s respectively. Additionally, none of these matches can be viewed in full length without an FCBayernTV subscription. Without further ado, here is the round up:
FV Illertissen 2-2 Bayern II (U-23)
Bayern lineup: Schmitt – Scholze (74. Darboe), Denk, Scholl, Yanda – Rüger (74. Brückner), Ličina, Jensen – Wagner, Della Rovere (46. Marušić), Unsöld.
Goals: 1:0 Milić (5.), 2:0 Cocic (29.), 2:1 Wagner (41.), 2:2 Neuberger (90+5, O.G.)
Unused subs: Heilmair – Dell’Erba.
Unavailable players: Vincent Manuba, Steve Breitkreuz, Javier Fernández, Younes Aitamer, Tarek Buchmann, Veis Yildiz, Benjamin Ballis, Moritz Mosandl, Kurt Rüger, Michael Scott, Lennar Becker, Anthony Pavlešić
One can tell that the U-23 team is rather thread bare and neglected at the moment. The injuries of course remain plentiful, but players such as Jonah Kusi-Asare, Tim Binder and Felipe Chávez, nominally U-23 players, were prioritized for the U-19 match ahead of the one of the U-23s. It does make sense, however. This match was a dead rubber match with nothing to gain for the team, as promotion became mathematically impossible last weekend, while the U-19 team is looking to win the first ever U-19 championship.
Still, Bayern lined up with a strong team. Adin Ličina was finally fit to start again and joined Guido Della Rovere, Jonathan Asp Jense and Co. to build a strong attack. Unfortunately, it would be at the back where the team suffered. This is nothing new, considering the first choice center backs are out through injury, but the defense looked weak whenever Illertissen ran at them.
A dominant opening few minutes by Bayern saw the Bavarians create multiple chances, only for a mistake in the buildup at the back to give the hosts the first goal. This pattern has been a common one this season for the U-23s and this match followed a very similar script. That is, until a long throw saw Jonathan Asp Jensen, usually known for his silky skills with the ball at his feet, rise the highest and, via a heavy deflection, score the equalizer with the last touch of the match. Officially, it was unfortunately counted as an own goal.
This point does little for the team’s standing in the table and leaves them in 5th place with two games left.
Bayern U-19 4-2 Borussia Dortmund U-19
Bayern lineup: Pavlešić – Wijks, Mijatović, Puljić, Ofli – Chávez (83. Zöls), Santos, Sadat – Karl (87. Nasrawe), Kusi-Asare, Binder (70. Richter).
Red card: Kusi-Asare (68.)
Unused subs: Stančić – Schäfer, Schuhbauer, Paylan.
Goals: 1:0 Chávez (10.), 2:0 Karl (18.), 3:0 Chávez (29.), 3:1 Inacio (30.), 3:2 Cherny (49.), 4:2 Karl (82.)
Unavailable players: Noah Codjo-Evora, Valentin Yotov, Max Mergner, Bogdan Olychenko, Leon Klanac, Oluwaseyi Wilson, Erion Rexhepi, Louis Richter
What a game this was. Despite being the youth teams of arguably Germany’s two biggest clubs, Bayern does not often meet Borussia Dortmund in the U-19 Bundesliga. The new format, however, saw the two paired up at the quarterfinal stage.
But Bayern were much the better side throughout. Some early pressure from Dortmund led to some worries but little true danger, before Bayern’s pressure racheted up and they were up 3-0 before the half hour mark. The goals were a result of the team’s ability to quickly get men up the field to put pressure on Dortmund’s goal and simply excellent individual quality. Dortmund always posed a threat and pulled to within a goal of Bayern just after half time, but the control, the chances and game were always leaning in Bayern’s favor. Until Jonah Kusi-Asare’s red card. After that, Bayern had to start hangung on and relied on an incredible solo goal from Lennart Karl to win the game. Speaking of which…
This was Lennart Karl and Felipe Chávez’s game. They are the two breakout stars of the season and they shone again brilliantly here today. It is easy to focus on their goals because they are the crowning examples of these player’s individual brilliance. But it is the maturity they have showed to step up and take responsibility which promotes them from exciting young talents to players who one can expect to near the first team in the next few years. It is all well and good to show star quality but when they are constantly demanding the ball, directing their teammates, putting in the hard yards off the ball, finding themselves at the center of every dangerous play and putting the team on their back like this, that is when you know a player is genuinely special.
That might be what is missing somewhat for Jonah Kusi-Asare at the moment. The U-21 Sweden international has enjoyed a season of progress at Bayern, but he has failed to grab any game by the scruff of its’ neck yet at Bayern. Today’s performance saw him perform fairly well, holding up the ball well, making good runs and working hard off the ball. But it also saw him miss some glaring chances. Nobody expects Kusi-Asare to have put it all together at his age, but for a player of his talent, there is still the desire to his talent better reflected in his current ability. He also drew a red card, but it was a very, very controversial decision as the referee gave him a second yellow for a perceived dive. Personally, it was never a dive and the decision was ludicrous.
Anthony Pavlešić also deserves a special mention. The goalkeeper has been coming off some poor performances and picked up a red card as the U-23s lost 5-1 last weekend, so he was suspended for this weekend’s match. Ergo, Max Schmitt went back up to the U-23s and Pavlešić got a rare game for the U-19 team. And he took advantage of it by excelling. He made a few iffy passes, but he was made some superb saves, radiated confidence and even tallied an assist for Karl’s late goal. Tim Binder was also on a mission tonight and did excellently. Chivano Wijks, the right back for the U-17s, was called up in the absence of the suspended Dalpiaz and delivered a performance that simultaneously demonstrated his power, agility and quality on the ball while still exposing some of his youth naïvete. The second conceded goal largely falls on his shoulders.
This victory sees Bayern move on to the semifinals and within touching distance of the U-19 Bundesliga title. In a somewhat strange twist, the Bavarians will come up against Leverkusen in the semifinals next week.
Bayern U-17 2-1 Karlruhe SC U-17
Bayern lineup: Podar-Stiube – El-Chaar, Pavlić, Lambe, Ajayi (68. Moumouni) – Snip (68. Danioko), Kiala, Göttlicher – Mike, Gashi, Chemwor
Goals: 1:0 Mike (28.), 1:1 Matenda (66.), 2:1 Mike (90.+5)
Red card: Bruckert (69.)
Unused subs: Coenen – Egwuatu, Matosevic, Pavić, Hentcho Nseke.
This was the Round of 16 in the quest to winning the U-17 Bundesliga title and Bayern welcome Karlsruhe to their stadium. In general, this was a well fought game with chances for both sides before KSC’s Bruckert earned himself a red card in the 69th minute and Bayern started to take control. But there was one man who stood out from the crowd.
This was Wisdom Mike’s first match back after an injury that kept him out for nearly 3 months. He likely dropped down to the U-17s with the goal of getting match fitness. But then he turned up and scored both goals, including a 95th minute winner, to seal Bayern’s win. The first was a brilliant run that ended with a clinical finish into the bottom corner from outside of the box. The second goal was luckier, owing to a certain extent to a heavy deflection, but the trickery he showed to work the space to take the shot and the power he gets behind a shot that is supposed to be with his “weaker” foot still demonstrates his quality. There are reports that the 16-year-old recently signed a 5 year contract at the club and his work this season is doing a splendid job of showing why.
Unfortunately, Richard Ajayi had a mixed game and was slow in his defensive duties as Matenda headed in Karlsruhe’s equalizer totally unmarked. Gashi demonstrated his brilliant movement in the box and deserved at least one goal. Chemwor also dropped down from the U-19 team and delivered a good performance.
This victory sees Bayern move on to the quarterfinals and face… Borussia Dortmund. Huh. what are the odds?
