Another wild weekend of soccer in Europe is in the books, with shock results and drought-breaking goals and, of course, more speculation over Kylian Mbappé‘s future dominating the headlines.
Sunday’s biggest result was surely Bayern Munich‘s capitulation at VfL Bochum, while a draw for Real Madrid kept things tight at the top of LaLiga. And what of Manchester United‘s win at Luton Town? You could certainly say that Erik ten Hag’s team is heading in one direction.
Meanwhile on Saturday, Bayer Leverkusen clinched a 2-1 win to further their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table, Barcelona edged Celta Vigo with a stoppage-time penalty and Manchester United vs. Arsenal broke the WSL attendance record.
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Here is your look back at yet another roller-coaster weekend in European football.
SUNDAY REVIEW
The lead: Tuchel on the brink as Bayern lose again
Pressure had been mounting for Bayern Munich and their manager Thomas Tuchel after losses to Bayer Leverkusen and Lazio during the previous eight days. Confidence, however, was improving as they travelled to the Ruhrstadion on Sunday to face one of their favourite opponents in VfL Bochum — the defending Bundesliga champions had achieved three 7-0 wins against Die Blauen in their previous five meetings. It had become a running joke in the Germany that Bayern were always at their best when they played against Bochum.
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This time, however, was entirely different. The clash with the tradition-rich club from the Ruhr area ended in a nightmare, as Bayern slipped to a 3-2 defeat.
While the visitors tried to find their groove early on, it quickly became obvious that Bochum were much more than just a sparring partner for Tuchel’s beleaguered team. In fact, the hosts looked like they could always go toe-to-toe with Bayern in midfield duels. Erhan Mašović, in particular, displayed a defensive masterclass as he moved from one wing to the other frequently to fend off Jamal Musiala and Thomas Müller.
Even though Bayern scored the go-ahead goal in the 14th minute, they couldn’t build any momentum on it as Bochum stayed in the game and looked especially dangerous when Takuma Asano received the ball in the right half-space where he engaged in one-on-ones with defender Kim Min-Jae.
Following a 13-minute break caused by fan protests against a potential deal between the German football league (DFL) and an outside investment firm, Bochum began to move the ball with poise after turnovers, as Asano was found by 37-year-old Anthony Losilla with a beautiful pass to set the Japan international to strike the equaliser past Manuel Neuer. Keven Schlotterbeck then headed the underdogs ahead following a Kevin Stöger corner kick.
In the second half, Bochum held their own for the most part and then capitalized on a mistake by Dayot Upamecano, who hit Schlotterbeck with his elbow in an aerial duel inside the penalty area. Upamecano was punished with his second yellow card of the day and thus was sent off again after seeing a straight red at Lazio on Wednesday. Stöger slotted the penalty past Neuer to take an unassailable 3-1 lead.
It is the first time since May 2015 that Bayern have lost two consecutive away games in the Bundesliga.
“It feels like a horror movie that never ends,” Bayern midfielder Leon Goretzka said after the match.
For almost the entire game, Tuchel watched the action with a warming scarf pulled over his mouth. It certainly was rainy and cold in Bochum, but the image was fitting for the 50-year-old manager’s difficult situation at Bayern. Zsolt Löw, his assistant, and Joshua Kimmich had a heated exchange of words after the game, and it seemed the two almost got into a fight. Tensions are increasingly high at Bayern, who now trail Leverkusen by eight points. — Constantin Eckner