The season is wrapping up with a bang…
Welcome to the FC Bayern Campus Round Up, where the matches of Bayern Munich’s U-17, U-19 and U-23 squads are analyzed, line ups are provided and the highlights to each match are hyperlinked on top of their respective score lines. All the information listed here is provided by Bayern’s official website here, here and here. Additionally, the U-17 and U-23 matches can be viewed in full length without an FCBayernTV subscription but anybody who lives in Germany or has a VPN can view the U-19 match using this link. Without further ado, here is the round up:
Bayern II (U-23) 5-0 Türkgücü München
Bayern lineup: Pavlešić – Scholze (61. Brückner), Scholl, Marušić, Yanda (61. Dell’Erba) – Rüger (69. Becker), Denk, Jensen – Wagner (69. Darboe), Unsöld (80. Mosandl), Ličina.
Goals: 1:0 Wagner (14.), 2:0 Denk (26.), 3:0 Yanda (31.), 4:0 Wagner (54.), 5:0 Unsöld (64.)
Unavailable players: Vincent Manuba, Steve Breitkreuz, Javier Fernández, Younes Aitamer, Tarek Buchmann, Veis Yildiz, Benjamin Ballis, Kurt Rüger, Michael Scott, Guido Della Rovere
Before the match started, a couple of departures were confirmed and honored, given that this was the final home game of the season. Long time captain Timo Kern had, of course, already retired in the winter but was still honored today. Additionally, long time Bayern youngster Angelo Brückner is out of contract in the summer and will leave the club. He was under contract at the club for 7 years and did well to develop all the way to the U-23s. Here’s to hoping he continues to develop.
Promotion may not be possible anymore, but the U-23s still turned in a convincing performance against struggling Türkgücü München side. The visitors headed into the match knowing they needed at least a point to have a chance at staying in the division, yet they delivered a poor performance and were eventually outclassed by Bayern’s youngsters.
There are plenty of players to praise today. But there was one player who stood out. Not because of performance, perhaps, but because it was a return of epic proportions. Before thie match, the last competitive match Moritz Mosandl played was all the way back in August 2021. The unbelievably unfortunate 22-year-old suffered 3 ACL injuries in a row and faced an unbelievable struggle to return to the field. The fact that he did so is an unbelievable demonstration of willpower and determination.
There was also the announcement, via Bayern’s official website, that Bayern II’s coaching staff would see some slight changes. One of the assistant coaches of the past two years, Sebastian Dreier, will leave the team to be head coach of the U-16s. To fill that void Josef Eibl has been hired. The 38-year-old had been in charge of DJK Vilzing for the past 4 years. From his impressive performances at the Regionalliga club to his status as brother-in-law to Bayern Campus sporting director Markus Weinzierl, this appointment is certainly intriguing.
Bayern II play their last match of the season against Schwaben Augsburg on May 17.
Leverkusen U-19 4-3 (a.e.) Bayern U-19
Bayern lineup: Schmitt – Dalpiaz, Mijatović, Puljić, Ofli (75. Nasrawe) – Chávez (116. Olychenko), Santos, Sadat – Karl, Richter (75. Zöls), Binder (105. Schuhbauer).
Goals: 0:1 Dalpiaz (1.), 1:1 Mensah (26.), 1:2 Chávez (72., Foulelfmeter), 2:2 Natali (90.+2), 2:3 Nasrawe (99.), 3:3 Onyeka (105.+1), 4:3 Heard (118.)
Unavailable players: Noah Codjo-Evora, Valentin Yotov, Max Mergner, Leon Klanac, Oluwaseyi Wilson, Erion Rexhepi, Jonah Kusi-Asare
Though the senior team’s black magic may be fading somewhat, it seems the Leverkusen U-19s managed to borrow some of it to make the most dramatic and heart-breaking comeback. This was the semifinals of the U-19 Bundesliga and the match to see who would have right to play Köln’s U-19 team in the final.
And it all started so well, with Magnus Dalpiaz’s goal in the first minute of the match. In the absence of a recognized striker such as Noah Codjo-Evora and Jonah Kusi-Asare, while Simon Zsöls’ stalled development saw him sitting on the bench, head coach Peter Gaydarov opted to play midfielder Louis Richter as a false nine. It actually worked fine and saw Bayern establish a good level of control over the match. It would require the kind of contributions in the offense that Dalpiaz provided, but it was fine.
The defense, by contrast, was terrible. Needless to say, any defense does not look good when it concedes 4 goals, even in 120 minutes. But none of the defenders left the field with any kind of credit, despite Dalpiaz’s goal. The counter pressing was good and the shielding from the midfield fairly decent, but whenever the defense was challenged mistakes happened and Leverkusen were able to create chances. Between naïve challenges and poor communication, this was a night to forget for the defense. The calamity in defense for the 4:3 perhaps truly summed up the performance on the day.
The loss in the semifinals means that the season for the U-19s is over. Perhaps that is somewhat fortunate for Lennart Karl. In a strange scheduling twist, the start of the Men’s U-17 European Championship is just days after the U-19 Bundesliga final. If the U-19s had participated in the final, Karl (who has been nominated for the tournament) would have had to choose between the final or the start of the Championship. This will also likely eliminate any chance of Karl making his debut for Bayern in the Bundesliga this season.
Bayern U-17 3-1 Borussia Dortmund U-17
Bayern lineup: Ruland – El-Chaar, Pavlić, Kiala, Wijks (83. Moumouni) – Göttlicher, Lambe (89. Schmid), Matosevic – Mike (89. Snip), Danioko (46. Ajayi), Egwuatu (79. Hentcho Nseke).
Goals: 1:0 Faust (12., Handelfmeter), 1:1 Ajayi (57.), 1:2 Egwuatu (60.), 1:3 Mike (66.)
Just as Bayern’s U-19 team overcame their Borussia Dortmund counterparts last weekend, so did the U-17 team this weekend. While the U-19 team burst into an early 3-0 lead, however, the U-17 team had to fight back from a deficit to claim victory.
It was Dortmund player Tom Faust who would open the scoring through a penalty and he would continue to torment the Bavarians throughout, demonstrating why he is so highly rated in the youth set up. But 3 goals in just 9 minutes would set Bayern on their path past Dortmund in the quarterfinals to the semifinals.
This is when things get weird. Bayern will travel to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the semi-finals…on June 8. The entire tournament will take a break for the U-17 European Championship, which lasts from May 19 to June 1, before resuming afterwards. One can only wonder how much of an impact that will have on the teams participating, the players called up to the tournament (such as Göttlicher, Pavlić and Mike getting called up to Germany) and those who take a break in the meantime. A potential final would be on June 15 against Rasenballsport Leipzig or VFB Stuttgart.
