Match Report: Schalke 04-Bayern Munich (German Supercup)
Before the Bundesliga season started, Cañizares had a chance to reel in his first prize at Bayern: his team played Schalke 04 in the German Supercup, where the Bundesliga champion of last year – Bayern – plays against the DFB Cup-winner – Schalke. The match was played at the Veltins-Arena, Schalke’s home ground, and the stadium was sold-out. This match was the first official match of the new season in Germany.
Match Report
The Veltins Arena was completely sold out, and one half was filled with blue shirts, while the other was filled with red shirts. Both teams had a great squad, but Bayern were big favourites, as they arguably have the best squad in the world at the moment. Schalke played with the following team: Horn – Uchida, Ginter, Höwedes, Kolasinac – Hahn, Neustädter, Rode, Meyer – Avdijaj, Morata.
Meanwhile Bayern played with the following line-up, with some South-American players on international duty: Neuer – Boateng, Varane, Badstuber – Martínez – Müller, Kroos, Thiago, Draxler – Götze, Lewandowski. The most interesting name in the line-up is probably the name of Badstuber, who is only in the squad because Dória is on international duty.
After only four minutes, things got out of hand as Sebastian Rode – an ex-Bayern player – gave Mario Götze a firm bodycheck. The referee decided to give the 25-year-old midfielder a straight red card for his foul. Rode accepted his red card and slowly walked off the pitch with his head in his hands. Schalke now had to play with 10 men for the remainder of the match – 86 minutes.
Only four minutes after Rode’s red card, German youth international Max Meyer delivered a perfect corner onto the head of André Hahn, who was patiently awaiting the ball at the near post. Hahn headed the corner into the goal via the bar, and Neuer couldn’t possibly save the shot, as he anticipated a cross to the far post instead of the near post.
Cañizares’ team were stunned by this goal, and they didn’t score in the rest of the first half. But they were a changed team after the break. And after five minutes in that second half, Morata knocked over Lewandowski, who was in a perfect position to score from Kroos’ corner. This push by Morata turned out to be a very costly one, as the referee awarded a penalty to Bayern. Lucas Moura stepped up to the spot and slotted home the 1-1.
Only seven minutes after the 1-1, Bayern scored again: Tlotzin Silva picked up the ball around the halfway line, and he delivered a cross to Toni Kroos, who tucked away a goal that gave Bayern the lead in Cañizares’ first official match for Bayern: 2-1 to
der Rekordmeister. The Schalke fans in the Veltins-Arena were silenced by this goal, and the Bayern fans were now the fans making the most noise in the stadium.
In the 71st minute, Bayern Munich extended their lead with another goal, and they now had a two-goal-lead over Schalke. The move that led to the goal started with a throw-in by Draxler, who got the ball to Javi Martínez. The Spaniard then lined up Tlotzin Silva who fired home his first Bayern goal ever. The American youngster smashed the ball into the top corner and made the score 3-1.
Robert Lewandowski also got himself a goal in this match, scoring against his old clubs’ arch-rivals. After 78 minutes of play, the Polish striker received a cross by Lucas Moura, and instead of immediately shooting, Bayern’s striker dribbled around the keeper and eventually shot the ball into the empty net from a pretty hard angle.
After the match, all Schalke fans quickly exited the stadium, but the Bayern fans sticked around to see their team receiving
another prize. They sung chants for their new manager, who has made a good first impression with this perfect debut in German football.