Bayern defeated TSG without any shine
Musiala sends Beckenbauer on his final journey with a victory
January 12, 2024, 10:24 p.m
In the middle of the second half, FC Bayern had to tremble a lot before the Bundesliga restart, but great saves from Manuel Neuer made TSG Hoffenheim despair. It was precisely during this pressure phase that Jamal Musiala scored his second goal for the emotional victory, in which almost everything revolved around Franz Beckenbauer.
Franz Beckenbauer’s evergreen “Good Friends” rang out from the loudspeakers as the victorious Bayern team around double packer Jamal Musiala suppressed their mourning for the Kaiser for a few moments in front of the south curve. Five days after the club icon’s death, the Munich team celebrated a clear 3-0 (1-0) against TSG Hoffenheim – and sent Beckenbauer on his “final journey” to football heaven with the hoped-for victory.
“Today was also about Franz Beckenbauer, so about the joy of life, of football, of winning together – and about not taking the whole thing too seriously. Franz was a good role model,” said Thomas Müller on Sat.1 : “Even though I’m personally too young to have much contact with him. I was able to learn a lot from him.”
Despite the cheering scenes after the final whistle, the evening, which was largely in a minor key, was all about the greatest German footballer, who was buried on the day of the match in the immediate family circle. Beckenbauer was omnipresent in the freezer Allianz Arena at -8 degrees – and not just because his hit “Good Friends” was also played at the Munich gates.
Young star Musiala (18th/70th) was the outstanding player, and not just because of his two goals. The national player was full of wit and also hit the post (58th). Harry Kane (90th) put the finishing touches, with his 22nd goal of the season he equaled Robert Lewandowski’s Bundesliga first half record from the 2020/21 season. With the success, the defending champions moved, at least temporarily, within one point of league leaders Leverkusen, who will play in Augsburg on Saturday. The Hoffenheim national player Grischa Prömel saw yellow-red (74th, repeated foul play).
Emotional appreciation of Beckenbauer
Before kick-off, everything revolved around the Kaiser: the words “Thank you Franz,” which was also emblazoned on Bayern’s jerseys, shone again in the arena. The stars warmed up with his legendary number 5 and wore mourning ribbon, while many of the emperor’s companions looked on.
But when the ball rolled, normality returned for the time being. The black mourning banner in front of the south curve (“The shining figure is going on its final journey – rest in peace, Emperor!”) was replaced by one against the DFL investors, the Bayern fans were silent for twelve minutes in protest.
Their team, in which Raphaël Guerreiro surprisingly played instead of Leon Goretzka, started lethargically. Tuchel felt compelled early on to encourage them to wave wildly. But against the visitors’ defensive five-man chain, in which Stanley N’Soki replaced Kevin Vogt, who had left at short notice, it was hardly possible to get through.
It took a single action for us to take the lead: Musiala dribbled into the penalty area on the right and shot from a tight angle, the ball found the net over the left inside post. 75,000 spectators, minus those in the away block, sang blissfully and thought of “Franz” again. Hoffenheim did not give up their destructive style of play and rarely found themselves in counterattack situations. Guerreiro (37th) left the score 2-0.
Sané twice on Musiala
The record champions also needed some time to get going in the second half before Musiala was denied by the right post. Thomas Müller missed the follow-up shot. Konrad Laimer’s pass failed shortly afterwards when he was free (60′).
The second goal seemed only a matter of time when Bayern suddenly gave up the game. In his 500th competitive game for Munich, Manuel Neuer had to save with outstanding reflexes against Maximilian Beier (63′), who hit the crossbar a short time later (65′), and against Andrej Kramarić (64′).
A nice one-two between Leroy Sané and Musiala brought the preliminary decision. After Prömel was sent off for fouling Joker Mathys Tel, the game was over. The outstanding Musiala was celebrated with long applause when he was substituted (87th).