In a stunning turn of events, Bayern Munich suffered a surprising exit from the German Cup, marking the third time in four years they've been eliminated in the second round. This unexpected loss came at the hands of third-division Saarbruecken on Wednesday, with Marcel Gaus delivering a last-minute winner.
Bayern initially took the lead with a goal from veteran Thomas Mueller, but the home side managed to level the score just before halftime through Patrick Sontheimer.
As the match appeared headed for extra time with the score tied at 1-1, defender Marcel Gaus netted a decisive goal in the sixth minute of injury time, securing a historic victory for his team.
Matthijs de Ligt, a central defender for Bayern, suffered a possibly critical knee injury early in the game. As a result, the team only has one fit center-back. Bayern go to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Mueller, the six-time Cup winner, appeared to put Bayern on course for an easy win against their less-favored opponents, but shortly after, De Ligt hurt his knee in a tussle and promptly signaled to the bench.
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Joshua Kimmich, a midfielder, was moved into defense due to an injury, which seemed to put Bayern behind a resurgent Saarbruecken.
Then the home team took the lead, with Sontheimer scoring from a ball from Lukas Boeder after Saarbruecken forced a blunder from midfielder Frans Kraetzig.
Star attacker Harry Kane remained on the bench as Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel deployed the cavalry, which included Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala, and Serge Gnabry.
Veteran defender Gaus made an unexpected move that will go down in Saarbruecken history as the England captain warmed up ahead of what appeared to be guaranteed extra time.
On Wednesday, a goal from Marco Reus secured a 1-0 victory for Borussia Dortmund in their home match against Hoffenheim.
Coach Edin Terzic made some strategic lineup changes, including granting rare starts to teenagers Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Youssoufa Moukoko. However, it was the experienced forward Reus who made the difference, breaking the deadlock late in the first half.
Bynoe-Gittens made an impressive run down the left flank and appeared poised to take a shot, but instead, he cleverly found Reus, who executed a deft one-touch finish. This marked Reus's 165th goal for the club and secured a well-deserved halftime lead for Dortmund.
The hosts spurned chances but Hoffenheim posed little danger and were reduced to 10 men in injury time when former Liverpool defender Ozan Kabak saw red.
Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl, who won the German Cup once during a 13-year career at the club, said: “Against a team which has won all of their away games, I thought we did very, very well.”
Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen scored three goals in the final five minutes to win 5-2 at third-tier Sandhausen.
Argentinian World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios gave Leverkusen an early lead from the spot after Amine Adli was brought down in the box.
Sandhausen levelled twice early in the second half, Christoph Ehlich and Yassin Ben Balla scoring either side of a Jonathan Tah goal for the visitors.
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