Rampant Borussia Mönchengladbach send Bayern Munich out of DFB Cup
Ramy Bensebaini and Breel Embolo each scored twice as Borussia Mönchengladbach’s early swarm caught Bayern Munich off guard in the DFB Cup second round on Wednesday, helping the Foals to a rampant 5-0 victory.
Gladbach coach Adi Hütter had lamented his side’s lack of a cutting edge recently, with the Foals scoring just once from 41 shots across their last two Bundesliga outings against Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin - but they had no such shortcomings here. The Foals took the lead inside two minutes when Kouadio Kone received a return pass from Breel Embolo to slot past Manuel Neuer from 10 yards. That set the tone for a furious spell of pressure from Gladbach, with further chances for Jonas Hofmann and Embolo before Bensabaini pounced to finish off a sweeping team move that began with Joe Scally on the right. Bensebaini grabbed his second of the game a short while later, putting the home side 3-0 up after 21 minutes with a coolly taken penalty following Lucas Hernandez’s foul on Embolo. The closest Bayern came to scoring in in the first half was when Leroy Sane got behind the Gladbach defence to collect Leon Goretzka’s pass, but his cross into the middle under pressure from Scally was cleared.
The Reds set out to make amends in the second half and Yann Sommer had to be alert to keep out a swerving, long-range effort from Goretzka, before Serge Gnabry blazed off target after collecting a brilliant pass from Joshua Kimmich. However, worse was to come for Bayern. Embolo made it 4-0 when he took advantage of a defensive mix-up to race on to Nico Elvedi’s clearance and fire through Neuer’s legs. The Swiss attacker notched his second of the night moments later following Luca Netz’s superb through-ball, tearing past Benjamin Pavard to place a precise shot into the bottom corner. Bayern have rarely, if ever, been undone in such a manner, but they still attempted to fight back, with their best chance falling to substitute Josip Stanisic, who snatched over from a promising position. Thomas Müller also sent a close-range volley straight at Sommer, his effort indicative of an evening in which nothing seemed to go right for Julian Nagelsmann’s side in what was, ultimately, a chastening defeat for the 20-time cup winners.
Match stats
Scally made his competitive Gladbach debut in the DFB Cup first round. He has started every game since.
Bensebaini’s goals were his first this season. He has now struck four times in five appearances against Bayern.
Bayern have now been knocked out in the DFB Cup second round for a second successive season, having lost 6-5 on penalties to Bundesliga 2 side Holstein Kiel in 2020/21.
Lewandowski is on 17 goals in 14 competitive games in 2021/22, but has now scored just twice in 20 career meetings with Gladbach.
Bayern are record 20-time DFB Cup winners; Gladbach have won the competition on three occasions.
Bayern failed to score for the first time in 85 competitive games, dating back to a goalless stalemate with Leipzig in February 2020.
No added time at Borussia-Park. Gladbach have blown Bayern away. They advance to the DFB Cup last 16, 5-0 winners on the night. What a performance!
Full-time
84'
TAME
Bayern break following a Gladbach free-kick. Pavard finds himself on the end of a ball into the box, but can only roll his strike into Sommer's breadbasket.
79'
MÜLLER AGAIN!
Sane whips in a free-kick. Müller takes a swipe from close range, but Sommer's in no mood to be beaten. Why's it taken so long for Bayern to show a response?!
Tolisso heads a corner onto the bar. Sommer may have got a touch. The record champions refusing to concede defeat...
74'
MÜLLER!
Bayern scored four goals in 14 second-half minutes against Benfica last week, but the comeback doesn't look to be on here as Müller fires straight at Sommer. Good work in the build-up from Lewandowski, who's barely had a meaningful kick.
This feels like damage limitation for Bayern. Those are not words you expect to read in the same sentence as the record champions - not when they've been swatting aside opposition teams for fun.
..oh, Embolo! Bayern will not sleep tonight! Substitute Coman's wayward pass across the midfield is picked off by Netz. He only has eyes for Embolo, who runs in off the left and fires in off the inside of the woodwork. Gladbach 5-0 Bayern!
This is absolutely mad! Bayern trail 4-0! Beyer's off the pitch receiving treatment as Elvedi lumps a long ball upfield. Hernandez leaves it for Upamecano to deal with, but he makes a complete hash of it. Embolo's one-on-one and drives through the legs of Neuer.
Three minutes left at the end of a captivating first half that has well and truly upset the applecart.
43'
DENIED!
Bayern carve out a three-on-three attack. Gnabry slips in Sane, but his twinkle toes get in a bit of a muddle and the Foals clear the danger.
40'
OVER!
Bayern skip a few heel-snapping challenges as Sane feeds Goretzka on the edge of the area. His shot sails harmlessly over, just about summing up the champions' first-half display.
36'
AT LAST!
Bayern finally test Sommer as Müller feeds Gnabry in the box, but his shot lacks the precision to trouble the Gladbach keeper.
34'
RAMY BEN-GIVES-BAYERN-HEEBIE-JEEBIES
Bensebaini has now scored four goals in five meetings with Bayern, including a brace in a 2-1 home win over the Bavarians in the 2019/20 Bundesliga.
31'
DON'T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS
You have to go back to February for the last time Bayern conceded three goals in a single game. They trailed Arminia Bielefeld 2-0 and 3-1, before salvaging a 3-3 draw through Davies. The record champions don't go without without a fight, just saying...
26'
STINDL CONCERN
Stindl stays down after being caught on the foot by Hernandez. Bayern really are all over the place - it's so unlike them!
24'
BAYERN THREATEN
Dayot Upamecano heads over from a corner with Bayern's first opening of note. The visitors come again with Gnabry, but his ball into the box is hoofed away before Lewandowski can pounce.
20'
GLADBACH 3-0 BAYERN!!!!
What is going on? Gladbach are thrashing Bayern, that's what! Bensebaini waits for Neuer to make his move before slotting his penalty the other way. The most incredible 20 minutes of DFB Cup football you're ever likely to see!
Hernandez is a bit high on Embolo in the box. He bundles the Switzerland international over as he challenges for a bouncing ball, and the referee points straight to the spot...
14'
GLADBACH SCORE AGAIN!
Bayern are completely undone once again! The Foals move it really well as Embolo shifts the ball into the feet of Jonas Hofmann, who ghosts in behind Davies to deliver an inch-perfect cross into the area. Ramy Bensebaini arrives unmarked to side-foot past the despairing dives of Neuer and Pavard to send the Borussia-Park into raptures.
This is only the ninth time Bayern have been breached in 15 competitive games in 2020/21. What's more it's only the second occasion they've fallen behind in a match this term. The first was also in Gladbach - a 1-1 draw on Bundesliga Matchday 1.
5'
CUPSET ALERT!
Bayer Leverkusen have been knocked out by second-tier Karlsruhe. This wouldn't rank quite as highly on the shock-o-metre, but there's no denying record cup winners Bayern are the favourites.
1'
KONE STRIKES!
What a start in Gladbach. Alphonso Davies appears to have snuffed out the danger deep in Bayern territory, but succeeds only in finding Kouadio Kone with his pass out from the back. The Gladbach midfielder exchanges passes with Breel Embolo - who gets a bit lucky - before racing onto the loose ball and slotting past Neuer. Now we'll see what Bayern are made of!
... and the atmosphere inside the Borussia-Park is electric. You can bet your bottom dollar the football will be right up there, too!
2:03
WATCH: GLADBACH 1-1 BAYERN
Lewandowski scored one and was denied a good few more by Yann Sommer as Bayern began their Bundesliga title defence with a come-from-behind draw at Gladbach on Matchday 1. The record champions hammered the Foals 6-0 at home the previous season, on the day they were crowned champions for the ninth time in a row, but lost a thriller 3-2 on the road.
HÜTTER TARGETS REACTION
A little up and down so far this season, Hütter is hoping Gladbach show their best side against Bayern. "I hope that the team reacts to the game in Berlin in the same way as they did after the 1-0 loss against Augsburg, which they followed up with a 1-0 win over Dortmund," he commented. "We’re defending well at the moment and not giving away many chances, which will be crucial tomorrow evening. Even so, we will have to be even more focused and alert because Bayern are on another level. We have to offer more going forward, however, if we want to trouble Bayern."
DEPUTY DOUBLE ACT
Whatever Nagelsmann's been telling his team, it's been working. Bayern have also beaten Benfica 4-0 since he came down ill, with assistants Toppmüller and Zambrod doing a stellar job in his stead. "I'm glad things have gone well so far, we've won the games and the boys have marched on," Nagelsmann said. "A lot of things have been implemented very well and the boys also have the desire to keep giving everything even when I'm not there. We have to go to the limit, like we've also done in recent games."
2:03
WATCH: HERTHA 1-0 GLADBACH
Gladbach dominated the first half, but paid the price for missed chances as Marco Richter gave Hertha a smash-and-grab win at the weekend. The result brought an end to the Foals' three-match winning and four-game unbeaten run.
2:03
WATCH: BAYERN 4-0 HOFFENHEIM
Robert Lewandowski's 10th Bundesliga goal of the season helped Bayern to a routine 4-0 win over Hoffenheim last time out. It marked the Bundesliga leaders' 12th win in 14 competitive games this season.
MORE ON THOSE TEAMS
Gladbach coach Adi Hütter makes one change to the side that lost 1-0 to Hertha Berlin on Saturday. Influential defender Matthias Ginter returns following a cold, with Ramy Bensebaini shifting to a left wing-back role at the expense of Luca Netz. Bayern welcome back Alphonso Davies and Leon Goretzka following injury and illness respectively. Leroy Sane also returns in place of Jamal Musiala after being rested from the start in Saturday's 4-0 rout of Hoffenheim. Head coach Julian Nagelsmann misses out for the third game in a row, so assistants Dino Toppmöller and Xaver Zembrod deputise once more.
WELCOME!
A fixture worthy of any DFB Cup final, old rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayern Munich collide in the competition's second round. Who will join holders Borussia Dortmund in the last 16? Stay tuned to find out!
