Setback becomes trump
After ten minutes, Salzburg’s right winger danced Andreas Ulmer out, but keeper Philipp Köhn just managed to deflect the hard low shot around the post. Shortly thereafter had to RB cope with the first setback: goalscorer Noah Okafor had to leave the field because of muscle problems.
But nine minutes later no one from Salzburg spoke of an alleged setback. Because Chikwubuike Adamu, who came on for Okafor, was not on the Bayern defensive line that quickly: served by German international Karim Adeyemi, Brenden Aaronson passed the ball on to Adamu, who shot Sven Ulreich into the Bayern goal with a perfectly timed flick from the edge of the penalty area left no chance.
Ulreich still under stress
And Salzburg continued to tease Bayern: five minutes after the 1-0, Aaronson completed a great attack, but this time Ulreich got his right hand on the ball. Munich were visibly impressed, didn’t get any more pressure in midfield and even suffered the plus in ball possession. A counterattack was needed to come close to equalizing, but Leroy Sané, who played centrally, narrowly missed the Salzburg goal (31′).
It was only in the last few minutes before the break that Munich put the hosts back on the defensive more consistently. Gnabry failed with two blocked shots, Coman’s header easily defused Köhn.
Bayern luck with the VAR
However, what continued through the entire first half: Bayern kept throwing themselves out of rhythm through lack of concentration and unclean passes. Shortly before the break, it almost took revenge: Niklas Süle missed a throw and Benajmin Pavard came too late, allowing Adeyemi to sprint the ball. Pavard then touched him in the penalty area, but referee Michael Oliver and the VAR were not enough for a penalty.
Too little – that remained the central theme of Bayern for a long time after the change of sides. Too little precision, too little team play, actions that weren’t thought through enough and the chances that were combined out – surprisingly much was left to chance with the Munich team. In addition, Lewandowski was a total failure that evening.
Although Salzburg increasingly let themselves be pushed into their own half, they showed outstanding commitment and celebrated for every tackle or throw-in won.
Köhn sometimes in luck
And they also worked out their luck: In the 72nd minute, the ever-improving Coman nibbled the RB defense, but with a lot of luck Köhn parried his shot into the near corner and only narrowly prevented an own goal. The equalizer was due a quarter of an hour before the end, but again Köhn was there first against Sané and then against Gnabry.
Ten minutes before the end, Bayern were in the doldrums: Adeyemi failed after a counterattack by Ulreich’s foot defence, Adamu’s follow-up shot was saved by Pavard for his already beaten keeper just before the line. When Salzburg could seriously dream of the sensation, Bayern still struck: Müller headed it over, Coman sprinted into the ball on the second post and overcame Köhn into the near corner to make it 1-1.