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 the U-23, U-19 and U-17 matches are hyperlinked on top of their respective score line. IMPORTANT: It seems Bayern have now geo blocked the highlights and the reports, for whatever reason. So if one would want to watch or read either of them, one would need a VPN. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Information on the U-23, U-19 and U-17 matches is provided by the official FC Bayern website here, here and here, respectively. If you wish to learn more about the format of the U-17 and U-19’s youth leagues, you can find more info here. Additionally, none of these matches can be viewed in full length without an FCBayernTV subscription. Without further ado, here is the round up:
TSV Buchbach 3-4 Bayern II (U-23s), Matchday 16
Bayern lineup (with subs): Bärtl – Yanda, Heindl (74. Puljić), Dettoni, Dalpiaz – Nasrawe (84. Mergner), Deziel Jr., Della Rovere – Heinz, Meier, Binder (74. Degraf).
Goals: 1:0 Bahar (41.), 1:1 Heinz (45.), 1:2 Tavra (50. / Eigentor), 1:3 Heinz (55.), 1:4 Binder (59.), 2:4 Heiland (66.), 3:4 Bahar (78.).
Unused subs: Klanac – Schuhbauer, Richter, Scott, Ličina, Darboe
Unavailable players: Steve Breitkreuz, Javier Fernández, Younes Aitamer, Roko Mijatović, Felipe Chàvez, Benno Schmitz, Kurt Rüger, Vincent Manuba
Position: 10., 24 points
Talk about a rollercoaster of a match. Bayern’s U-23s traveled to TSV Buchbach looking to make it two wins on the bounce for the first time since August after winning big against Aschaffenburg last time out. In a rather miraculous turn of events, Ljubo Puljić, Louis Richter and Michael Scott made their returns from long term injuries and nobody else got injured in turn. Puljić even played some minutes and made a further contribution the next day. That leaves “just” 8 players out injured for the U-23s, though Fernández and Schmitz are nearing their own returns.
Still, head coach Holger Seitz could not count on the returnees immediately and sent out the same XI as against Aschaffenburg aside from Grayson Dettoni replacing Cassiano Kiala (who dropped to the U-19s). No need to change a winning side, eh? Still, the early phases of the match were very difficult for Bayern. The pitch was gruesome, with the ball constantly getting stuck on rough patches of grass and bouncing all over the place. Nor was the composure of the U-23s much better, with a lot of the same hurried and disorganized attacking play that has characterized much of the season taking over in this match as well.
And, as has happened so many times this and previous seasons, Bayern huffed and puffed and but failed to create any meaningful attacks before letting the opposition score a cheap goal for the opener. This one came from a corner, as an initial decent clearance saw the entire defense relax and turn off, allowing a Buchbach player to zip past three defenders as if they were not there and deliver a ball to a lot of suddenly unmarked players. Julien Yanda managed to rescue the ball on the line and the defenders got another chance to close down the attackers as the ball bounced away but no one made any meaningful defensive action as a forward was allowed to take a touch, swivel and finish through a crowd of bodies.
Unlike many previous games, however, Bayern responded. They fashioned some decent chances before half time and found the equalizer with the last kick of the half as Jussef Nasrawe’s long shot was not consequently palmed away and David Heinz managed to sensationally bend the ball into the back of the net on the second time of asking from a difficult angle. All of a sudden, Bayern were level and dealt a crucial blow to the hosts. Could they take that momentum into the second half?
Yeah, they could. By minute 58, Bayern were leading 4-1. A long pass forward, a deflected free kick and a silly giveaway from the opposition saw the Bavarians take full advantage to establish a dominant led. But this would not be the U-23s if they did not make the game interesting. Instead of pressing their advantage, they played more conservatively and the team’s naïve defending cost them to reduce the arrears to 4-2. Another corner saw Buchbach claw their way back to just one goal away from Bayern at 4-3, but despite a lot of sweating and nervous moments Bayern ended up triumphant.
This win sees Bayern…well, at least find their way back to the top half of the table. The U-23s have at least one game (up to three) in hand on every team in the league, but given they are 19 points off the top of the league and 9 points clear of the drop zone, it seems like a midtable finish is already on the cards. At this point, this season could be all about the individual development of the players.
Augsburg U-19 1-0 Bayern U-19, Matchday 10 of 12
Bayern lineup: Prescott – Ofli (78. Schäfer), Kiala, Puljić (60. Pavlić), Cardozo (73. Hentcho Nseke)– Santos, Olychenko, Schmid (46. Lambe) – Chemwor (60. Moumouni), Gashi, Egwuatu (46. Afanou).
Unused sub: Ruland (goalkeeper)
Unavailable players: Noah Codjo-Evora, Oluwaseyi Wilson, Michel Ekodi, Chivano Wijks, Moritz Göttlicher
Red card: Raphael Pavlić (85.)
Position: 1., 22 points
Bayern sealed their spot in the next round of U-19 Bundesliga in the most underwhelming manner possible. Even with this loss, they remain 5 points clear of third placed SSV Ulm, who only have one more game to play. Just because they sealed their progression does not mean that there were many positives to take from this match, however. As the U-23’s injury list has started to ease up, the U-19s have racked up their injuries as Göttlicher, Wijks and Codjo-Evora have recently suffered injuries. How unsurprising is that, eh?
Furthermore, Bayern were awful in this match. Augsburg created vast majority of the chances, with goalkeeper Leonard Prescott forced into some stunning saves. The keen eyed readers may have spotted Puljić in the starting lineup in this match after he had appeared for the U-23s the day before on Friday, as well. He partnered Kiala at the back but the duo had never played together before and it showed. Meanwhile, poor Maycon Cardozo had to deputzie for the injured Wijks at right back, despite being more of a forward by trade. Again and again, the Brazilian looked out of his depth in the position and the opposition took full advantage.
The only goal of the match came from a corner, as Augsburg crowded the six yard box in a typical modern set piece routine and profited from a lucky bounce to stab the ball into the back of the net. The opener did nothing to spur Bayern on as the attack was completely disjointed and all over the place, unable to connect or create anything other than desperate long range shots. In fact, it was Augsburg who would continue to create the better chances, hitting the woodwork twice in the second half and forcing Raphael Pavlić, on as a subsitute, into a late red card.
As mentioned, this loss did not prevent Bayern from sealing qualification to the next round of the U-19 Bundesliga due to results elsewhere, but performances need to be much better if they want to get much father in the competition. During midweek, they travel to London to face Arsenal’s U-19s in a desperate bid to save their UEFA Youth League season.
Bayern U-17 3-0 SSV Ulm U-17, Matchday 13
Bayern line up: Podar-Stiube – Ajayi (81. Sindi), Pucci, Pavić, Horvath – El-Chaar (81. Osmani), Schaff (68. Zogaj), Horoszczak, Babl (68. Hentcho Nseke) – Assomo (35. Danioko), von Taube
Goals: 1:0 Own goal, assisted by Bastian Assomo (26.), 2:0 Luca Babl (58.), 3:0 Philipp von Taube (82.)
Position: 1., 33 points
Now this is how one competently seals qualification. With this win, Bayern’s U-17s are 10 points clear of third placed Stuttgarter Kickers’ U-17s with just one match to go. This match was far from a classic but Bayern took advantage of the few chances they created and the early loss of star striker Bastian Assomo to competently wrap up the victory.
