Harry Kane left on the bench as Bayern Munich suffer shock loss to third-tier Saarbrucken
Thomas Tuchel revealed that Harry Kane had an issue with his hamstring as he was left on the bench during Bayern Munich’s shock 2-1 defeat to third-tier Saarbrucken in the DFB Pokal.
The Bundesliga champions finished the match with 75 per cent possession and 18 shots to Saarbrucken’s four, but it was a 96th minute winner from Marcel Gaus that secured the amazing win for the underdogs after Thomas Muller had given Bayern the lead.
Kane left on the bench
There were plenty of big names involved for Bayern, with the likes of Leroy Sane, Muller, Joshua Kimmich, Alphonso Davies and Manuel Neuer in the starting XI, although Kane was left on the bench.
The England captain was not called upon, despite Bayern in desperate need of a goal and Tuchel said he ‘felt his hamstring’ before the match, adding: ‘There was only one substitution left. I wanted to wait until extra time and wanted to check whether everyone could play until the end.’
Tuchel’s reaction
On the result the former Chelsea boss said: ‘We weren’t arrogant or took it lightly. There are either 100 explanations or none. It feels strange. We really wanted to go to Berlin. It is what it is, we have to congratulate the opponent.’
Bayern’s sporting director, Christoph Freund, did not hide his anger after the contest as he hit out at the performance, especially in the first half.
‘I don’t understand how you can play such a bad first half – without courage, without speed, without aggressiveness – you can’t compete with any opponent like that,’ he said.
Thomas Muller added: ‘You can find many reasons. All in all, we have to congratulate Saarbrücken on the fight, we just weren’t clever enough. We conceded a counter-attack in stoppage time after having already missed a lot of chances beforehand.
Conclusion
Bayern Munich suffered a shock defeat to third-tier Saarbrucken in the DFB Pokal on Wednesday night, despite having 75 per cent possession and 18 shots to Saarbrucken’s four. Harry Kane was left on the bench due to an issue with his hamstring and Thomas Tuchel revealed that there was only one substitution left and he wanted to wait until extra time to check whether everyone could play until the end.
Bayern’s sporting director, Christoph Freund, and Thomas Muller both expressed their disappointment and anger at the result, with Freund saying ‘I don’t understand how you can play such a bad first half – without courage, without speed, without aggressiveness – you can’t compete with any opponent like that.’
It was a 96th minute winner from Marcel Gaus that secured the amazing win for the underdogs and Bayern will now have to pick themselves up in time for their next match in two days time.