Bayern Munich said goodbye to the first exchange of the German Cup, after being thrashed (5-0) in the round of 32 against Borussia Mönchengladbach, who completely dislodged the all-powerful Bavarian team.
Gladbach had never beaten Bayern in any of their previous seven cup matches, a streak that Austrian Adi Hutter’s side came to an end with a frenetic pace of play.
Intense in the pressure and electric in their combinations, the “colts” overwhelmed Bayern in the first twenty minutes of play, which did not do without any of its stars on their visit to Borussia Park.
But not even the presence of the Neuer, Davies, Kimmich, Gnabry, Müller or Lewandowski could prevent the triumph of Borussia Mönchengladbach that after 2 minutes of play already led the score (1-0) with a goal from the French Kouadio Koné.
Advantage that the locals doubled thirteen minutes later, in the 15th, with a goal from the Algerian Ramy Bensebaini, in a play that exemplified, like few others, the outstanding staging of the “colts”.
After recovering the ball in the medullary, Gladbach planted himself in the rival area with a thrilling combination between his the Swiss Breel Embolo and Jonas Hofmann who assisted for the arrival of Bensebaini who signed the 2-0
A scoreboard that did not appease the voracity of Borussia Mönchengladbach, which in the 21st further extended its advantage when Bensebaini transformed a penalty committed by Frenchman Lucas Hernández on Embolo.
However, those of Adi Hutter, who already managed to draw at home (1-1) against Bayern on the first day of the Bundesliga, were not ready for the party to end.
As Breel Embolo demonstrated six minutes into the second half by taking advantage of an indecision from centrals Lucas Hernández and Dayot Upamencano when clearing a long ball to establish the 4-0.
A resounding scoreboard that grew again six minutes, at 57, with the second goal of the night from the Swiss international Embolo, who did not miss a good pass from his compatriot Nico Elvedi to sign the final 5-0.
A win that left in the background the surprising elimination of Bayer Leverkusen, who was dropped from the competition, after losing 1-2 against Karlsruher, a team from the Second Division.
It didn’t take long for the game to get complicated for Bayer Leverkusen, Betis’ rival in the Europa League group stage, which after five minutes of play was already behind on the scoreboard after the goal (0-1) by Lucas Cueto for the visitors.
A goal that Bayer Leverkusen could not respond to until nine minutes into the second half, when the Dutch defender Jeremie Frimpong established the momentary equalizer (1-1).
But an error at 63 minutes by the local goalkeeper, the Finn Lukas Hradecky, who handed the ball to the South Korean Kyoung-Rok Choi, definitively condemned Bayer Leverkusen to defeat (1-2), in which he debuted, with only 16 year, the Spanish Iker Bravo.
A surprise that Union Berlin, fifth-placed in the Bundesliga, avoided in extra time after beating Second Division team Manheim 1-2 with a Nigerian goal by Taiwo Awoniyi in extra time.
For its part, Colonia, in which the Spanish central defender Jorge Meré returned to act as the starter, won the ticket for the round of 16, after beating Stuttgart 0-2 with a double from French striker Anthony Modeste in the last quarter of the party.
Cologne thus joined Borussia Dortmund and Leipzig, who on Tuesday sealed their qualification for the next round, after beating Ingolstadt (2-0) and Babelsberg (0-1) respectively. EFE (HN)