On Wednesday evening, FC Bayern faced the second-division team from Magdeburg at home in the Allianz Arena. The record champions’ goal was to advance to the round of 16 in the DFB Cup.
There was no doubt that FCB went into this matchup as the favorite. Most recently, Bayern won 3-1 against SC Freiburg under adverse conditions and remain undefeated so far this season.
It was a lively match against the second-division side, which FC Bayern ultimately won convincingly by a score of 6-1.
Olise scores and sets up a goal
Bayern kicked off the match against the second-division side without Harry Kane, who won the Ballon d’Or on Monday. However, the Englishman wasn’t completely absent—he was on the bench. Magdeburg had announced their intention to go into the game with courage. And indeed, the visitors tried to find creative solutions.
It took a little while for Bayern to become truly dangerous. Nine minutes in, Ismael Saibari curled a shot into the side netting. Shortly afterward, the score became 1–0. Lennart Karl opened the play with a magnificent pass to Saibari, who kept his head up and set up Michael Olise. All he had to do was tap it in. But just over 15 minutes in, Magdeburg equalized. A shot by Zukowski was deflected by Hiroki Ito and landed perfectly in the far corner. The ball flew off the post and into the net; Jonas Urbig had no chance.
Bayern weren’t shaken for long, though. In the 21st minute, Olise played a beautiful pass to Saibari, who remained ice-cold one-on-one with the goalkeeper and restored the lead. In the 26th minute, Saibari then fired well wide. The Moroccan was very agile and involved in many dangerous plays. After that, the game slowed down a bit. Bayern had more possession, but Magdeburg defended more attentively. Just before halftime, Baris Atik hit the post for the visitors, and then the teams headed into the break.
Bayern runs up the score
After the break, Alphonso Davies continued playing for FC Bayern in place of Serge Gnabry. The second half was less than five minutes old when the record champions were awarded a penalty after Alphonso Davies was fouled. Since Kane hadn’t played yet, Olise stepped up and coolly chipped the ball into the net. Shortly afterward, Karl could have sealed the deal, but his shot was blocked at the last moment.
Just past the hour mark, Karl had another shot on goal, but Magdeburg goalkeeper Reimann was there to make the save. Olise and Laimer were then substituted in the 67th minute for Aleksandar Pavlović and Sacha Boey. And Pavlović made an immediate impact. His dream pass to Karl set up the 4-1 goal, which Davies ultimately scored. And things got even better for Bayern: After a cross from Karl, Davies laid the ball off for Brown, who scored to make it 5-1.
The result also allowed assistant coach Aaron Danks to give Tim Binder and David Santos Daiber some playing time. The game itself was winding down, and Karl still had a bicycle kick up his sleeve. David Santos Daiber even added the 6–1 goal in stoppage time! That was the final score.