Bayern Munich endure third straight loss as Bochum stun Bundesliga champions

Bayerns gamers depart the pitch after dropping the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Bochum and FC Bayern Munich in Bochum, Germany, on February 18, 2024.
| Picture Credit score: AP

Champions Bayern Munich crashed to a 3-2 loss at VfL Bochum on Sunday for a 3rd straight defeat in all competitions, dropping eight factors behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

The Bavarians, who had Dayot Upamecano despatched off for the second consecutive match after his dismissal in Wednesday’s Champions League loss to Lazio, confirmed no actual recreation plan with coach Thomas Tuchel now dealing with mounting strain.

His group had misplaced final week’s huge league match in opposition to Leverkusen and suffered a 1-0 defeat to Italy’s Lazio of their round-of-16 first leg.

“Now (the title) doesn’t look very life like,” Tuchel stated. “However final season we believed till the top and we had been rewarded. So we’ll preserve working at it.”

Referring to the strain on him following his group’s third loss, he added: “That occurs after each defeat.

“The ‘how’ we performed is vital. The ‘how’ was good right now and that is why right now’s 90 minutes are very totally different from the second half at Lazio or the sport at Leverkusen.”

Bayern had been determined to bounce again and did get a Thirteenth-minute lead when Jamal Musiala drilled in from a good angle as early strain paid off.

Bundesliga high scorer Harry Kane ought to have made it 2-0 however he missed a sitter in entrance of purpose within the nineteenth, firing wildly over the bar earlier than the sport was interrupted.

Followers began throwing tennis balls on to the pitch in protest at a deliberate international funding within the Bundesliga.

Such protests have elevated on current matchdays with nearly each league recreation on Saturday and Sunday having been briefly interrupted.

The 15-minute cease in play did wonders for Bochum’s recreation, with Takuma Asano finishing a fast break to stun Bayern with a Thirty eighth-minute equaliser.

They accomplished their comeback earlier than the break when Keven Schlotterbeck headed in a nook within the forty fourth.

Kevin Stoeger’s 78th-minute penalty put the sport to mattress after Upamecano was despatched off for elbowing an opponent within the field, with a second reserving.

Kane tapped in his twenty fifth league purpose within the 87th but it surely did little greater than inject some late drama, with Bochum holding on to the three factors.

There was additionally drama after the ultimate whistle with Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich leaving for the altering rooms after a heated verbal chat with Bayern assistant coach Zsolt Loew.

Bayern, chasing a record-extending twelfth straight league title, are in second place on 50 factors, eight behind Leverkusen, whereas Bochum moved as much as eleventh on 25.