Berlin (AFP)
Bayern Munich honored its legend, “Kaiser” Franz Beckenbauer, who passed away at the age of 78, in the best way, by beating its guest Hoffenheim 3-0, thanks to a “double” by Jamal Musiala, in the seventeenth stage of the German Football League.
The Bavarian giant, seeking its twelfth consecutive league title, played its first match of 2024 in a sad atmosphere as a result of the death of Beckenbauer, who shone in its ranks as a player and won the league title four times with him and the European Club Champions Cup three times, before he later coached him and won the league title with him. All the way to assuming the position of club president.
In a very cold climate, where the temperature reached minus 9 degrees Celsius, the Bayern players warmed up while wearing shirts bearing the number 5, which Beckenbauer wore when he was a player during a career during which he won the World Cup as a player in 1974, before repeating the matter as a coach. 1990.
Bayern also played the match with special T-shirts that read “Danke Franz,” meaning thank you, Franz, among other tribute gestures that included showing video clips about the legend’s career, before the two teams held a minute of silence, similar to what happens in all stage matches.
The match was an occasion to honor the “Kaiser”, and Bayern's players rose to the occasion with their thirteenth victory of the season, which gave the opportunity for coach Thomas Tuchel's men to tighten the noose on leaders Bayer Leverkusen, after the difference between the two teams became temporarily one point, awaiting the latter's match with its host Augsburg on Saturday. .
Despite Leverkusen's exceptional season, collecting 42 points in 16 stages for the first time in its history, and playing 25 matches in all competitions without defeat this season, the twelfth consecutive match remains completely within Bayern's reach, especially since it has a postponed match to play on the current 24th. At home against Union Berlin.
In the 500th match for goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, he now shares tenth place with Bastian Schweinsteiger, in terms of players who have played the most with the Bavarian club, behind players such as Sepp Maier, the leader (706), and his current teammate Thomas Muller (686), or Beckenbauer, fifth (582). The Bavarian giant put pressure from the beginning, and realized its advantage in the 18th minute, when Musiala opened the scoring from a tight angle, after the ball reached him from Leroy Sané, following a corner kick.
Despite his field advantage, Musiala's goal was the difference between the two teams at the end of the first half, then the situation remained the same at the beginning of the second amid defensive solidity from Hoffenheim, who knew how to limit the danger of Englishman Harry Kane, Muller, Sane and Musiala, who was close to a second goal. With a shot from the outskirts of the area, but luck was against him after the ball bounced off the left post (59).
The pace of the match increased after that, and Austrian Konrad Laimer was close to scoring the second goal for Bayern, but goalkeeper Oliver Baumann excelled in defending his goal (60).
Hoffenheim almost equalized had it not been for Neuer's brilliance in blocking Maximilian Bayer's header (62), before repeating the matter in a one-on-one confrontation with Croatian Andrej Kramaric (64).
The visitors were unlucky when Bayer's shot bounced off the crossbar (67), before Musiala frustrated their resolve with his second goal, after the ball reached him from the left side of the penalty area via Sané (70), with the latter achieving his tenth assist this season in the league.
Hoffenheim's mission became more complicated, and their seventh defeat was largely confirmed, after they completed the match with ten players as a result of Greja Brummell (74) receiving a red card, paving the way for Bayern to emerge with the three points, and adding another goal, this time through Kane, who raised his tally to 22 goals. In the middle of his first season in the German League, after a pass from substitute Leon Goretzka “90”.
#Bayern #honors #Kaiser
