Bayern Munich failed to capitalize on Dortmund’s mishap against Freiburg, as they slumped to a defeat against the brave Hoffenheim side. The home side looked threatening right from the beginning as they piled men forward without fear. However, it’s just isn’t the tenacity which helped TSG scour the record champions. A moment of great awareness from Andrej Kramaric, put Mark Uth clean through on goal for the opening goal. Uth then doubled Hoffenheim’s lead in the second half, against all odds as Julian Nagelsmann’s troops rallied through yet another famous victory.
Hoffenheim have now kept a clean sheet in 8 of their last 10 Bundesliga matches, while Julian Nagelsmann still remains unbeaten vs Bayern, in his 18 months professional managerial career.
Here are the Bayern Munich player ratings’ in their disappointing 2:0 defeat against die Kraichgauer.
Manuel Neuer(7/10): It clearly wasn’t the best day for Manuel Neuer, who failed to keep out both of the shots from Mark Uth. He allowed two goals to his near post – which will certainly infuriate the German International captain. However, he can’t be faulted for Bayern’s defensive mishaps which cost them two goals on the night.
Joshua Kimmich(5.5/10): Like it or not, Joshua Kimmich got overwhelmed by the relentless pressure from Hoffenheim wingbacks, especially Steven Zuber, who kept the youngster totally occupied and prevented him from contributing much in the offensive department. His poor defensive clearance also led to Mark Uth’s second of the game.
Javi Martinez(7/10): Came back from injury, and started the game instead of Niklas Sule, which certainly was a bad decision from coach Carlo Ancelotti. His lack of space clearly didn’t help him get rid of the pacy duo of Mark Uth and Andrej Kramaric up front.
Mats Hummels(6.5/10): By far the worst defender for Bayern on the field, Hummels was lazy to deal with the Hoffenheim counter in the first place, which of course, lead to the opening goal. The constant pressure from the home side kept him busy throughout the game and at the end, he got frustrated before being booked for an awful challenge on Nadiem Amiri in the last minute of the game.
Rafinha(7/10): Struggled to fill in the holes left by David Alaba, who is out for a month due to an injury. Even though Rafinha was less busy compared to his other defensive teammates. He got subbed off at the end for Franck Ribery.
Sebastian Rudy(7.5/10): Surprisingly, despite all the pressure around him, Rudy played relatively well under the circumstances. The former Hoffenheim midfielder knows the team well and thus, prevailed in keeping possession and breaking up passes from the midfield.
Thiago Alcantara(7/10): It wasn’t a good day for Thiago either. The Spaniard clearly needs some time to get back to his rhythm as he was often outnumbered by the cohesive midfield unit of Julian Nagelsmann. He barely helped his team going forward and will be hoping for a better performance next time out.
Corentin Tolisso(7.5/10): Tolisso looked good when he was on the ball. His passing was okay and he seemed pretty comfortable hovering around the midfield block of Hoffenheim but at the end of the day, he lacked support from his teammates.
Thomas Muller(6.5/10): His 400th Bundesliga appearances didn’t go all too well for Thomas Muller. Playing as a right winger, Muller was hardly influential and saw very little of the table to do anything in the final third. He got replaced in 80th minute for James Rodriguez.
Kingsley Coman(7.5/10): Coman looked very lively throughout the game. But as always, his crossing was very bad, often finding a blue shirt rather than a red one. He also started to get a bit frustrated at the end, flustering a series of shots which were well over the bar. Very ineffective performance from the French youngster.
Robert Lewandowski(7/10): Kissed the barpost in the sixth minute but that was the closest he could get from scoring in the entire game. Lewandowski was fully marked by the Hoffenheim defensive trio, therefore, he was hardly given any space or time to work his magic.
Subs
Arjen Robben(7/10): Robben’s inclusion in the 55th minute gave Bayern fans some hope but the Dutch International was outnumbered on the left flank. He didn’t look all too dangerous to cause troubles for the opposition defence.
Franck Ribery(NA): Came on for Rafinha, hoping he could spark magic but it was too little too late.
James Rodriguez(NA): Was subbed on in place of Thomas Muller. Didn’t really make an impact aside from his brilliant delivery from a free kick which nearly resulted in a goal for Bayern Munich.
