A truly inspired performance by Gladbach goalkeeper Sommer – featuring a scarcely credible 18 saves – earns Die Fohlen a draw, as Bayern somehow contrive to drop their first points of the Bundesliga season.
At the final whistle, first-half goalscorer Thuram and his keeper celebrate in front of the visiting fans, who will leave Bavaria having seen their side put up a defiant – if slightly fortunate – display.
Nagelsmann will wonder how his team failed to win, given such dominance, but some irritable behaviour didn’t help the hosts’ cause.
Starting lineup:
BAYERN MUNICH (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer;
Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez, Dayot Upamecano, Alphonso Davies;
Joshua Kimmich, Marcel Sabitzer; Kingsley Coman, Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane;
Sadio Mane.
SUBS: Sven Ulreich, Serge Gnabry, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Jamal Musiala, Josip Stanisic, Ryan Gravenberch, Mathys Tel, Bouna Sarr.
BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH (4-2-3-1): Yann Sommer;
Joe Scally, Nico Elvedi, Ko Itakura, Luca Netz;
Kouadio Kone, Christoph Kramer; Jonas Hofmann, Florian Neuhaus, Alassane Plea;
Marcus Thuram.
SUBS: Tobias Sippel, Marvin Friedrich, Hannes Wolf, Jordan Beyer, Tony Jantschke, Rocco Reitz, Lars Stindl, Yvandro Borges Sanches, Patrick Herrmann.
Goals:
GLADBACH LEAD! From nowhere, with their first attempt at goal, the visitors seize the advantage! Thuram latches onto a volleyed clearance up from the back after Upamecano errs on the halfway line, then shows great composure to hold off two defenders and roll the ball coolly past Neuer for the opening goal!
BAYERN PULL LEVEL! Finally, the hosts find a way past Sommer, as Sane receives the ball from Musiala inside the box, turns and swipes the ball home with a precise strike into the bottom corner! It’s now 1-1, and everything’s still to play for at the Allianz Arena!
So, what’s next?
Having shattered the Bundesliga record for most saves in a match, next time out, Sommer will join his teammates in their quest to prolong a perfect home record against Mainz.
Meanwhile, bamboozled Bayern must prepare for their DFB-Pokal first-round tie in midweek.
