Welcome to the FC Bayern Campus Round Up, where the matches of Bayern Munich’s U-17, U-19 and U-23s are recapped. However, the U-19s did not have a weekend game so instead the team’s UEFA Youth League match against Aston Villa will be recapped. Lineups are provided and the highlights to each match are hyperlinked on top of their respective result. Without further ado, here is the round up:
Bayern lineup (with subs): Schmitt – Brückner, Dettoni, Scholl, Dell’Erba – Denk, Rüger – Demircan (90. Eckl), Ibrahimović (46. Unsöld), Irankunda (90. Kouam) – Wagner.
Goals [opposition goals]: 0:1 Denk (10.), 0:2 Unsöld (60.).
Unavailable players (*=with the U-19s for the UEFA Youth League) : Younes Aitamer, Javier Fernandez, Jonathan Asp Jensen, Vincent Manuba, Guido Della Rovere, Lennard Becker, Moritz Mosandl, Benjamin Ballis, Timo Kern, Steve Breitkreuz, Jonah Kusi-Asare*, Noel Aseko Nkili*, Adam Aznou*, Adin Ličina*
Finally, the winless run ends as Bayern beat Eintracht Bamberg. The hosts had beat Bayern in the other fixture this year, coming out 2-1 winners back in May, so a win was hardly a guarantee coming into this match but it was never in question as, despite a horribly depleted squad, the Bavarians utterly dominated throughout. Combine this domination with Luca Denk’s early opener and it was a rather comfortably afternoon for Bayern.
But what a goal it was from Denk. If you for some reason missed the last Bayern Campus Round Up (shame on you), he scored an utterly brilliant piledriver from around 35 yards just last week. And, somehow. he did it again this week. This time, he was closer to the goal but he had less time to shoot, took one touch to turn and produced an utterly gorgeous shot that was both powerful but also dipped ferociously, allowing it to sneak under the crossbar and find the top right corner.
Another cause for celebration was the return of Arijon Ibrahimović. Injured in late July, it has taken over two months for the youngster to return to match fitness. Nevertheless, he was only fit enough for one half. Whether Ibrahimović will get his game time with the U-23s or if he will now gather playing time in the Bundesliga with the senior squad remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Despite his total lack of sharpness, he demonstrated in this match that he is far too good for the Regionalliga. In case anyone needed a reminder of that fact.
With this win, Bayern manage to stay in 5th. The distance between top of the table 1. FC Schweinfurt and the team remains 9 points, though the Bavarians keep their game in hand. Bayern II was set to face off against the league leaders, but the game would have happened during the international break and had to be postponed due to Bayern’s internationals. Instead, Bayern II’s next game will be against 2nd place FV Illertissen on Friday, October 18 at 12:00PM CST. It will give the young Bavarians the chance to stake the claim as Schweinfurt’s most serious competitors.
Bayern lineup (with subs): Klanac – Aznou, Puljić, Mijatović, Dalpiaz – Santos – Scott (58. Ličina), Aseko (70. Binder), Nasrawe (58. Richter), Chávez (87. Schuhbauer) – Kusi-Asare (87. Codjo-Evora).
Goal: 0:1 Kusi-Asare (64.)
Unavailable players: Max Mergner, Iwinosa Uhuns, Sadiki Chemwor
Due to some awkward scheduling, the U-19s faced Aston Villa in the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday and Bayern II faced Eintracht Bamberg on Thursday, the kind of scheduling that simply not allow any of the players to participate in both matches. And Bayern always prioritizes the Youth League. Therefore, multiple Bayern II players were chosen to be part of the U-19 squad instead of their regular team- though Nestory Irankunda was unexpectedly not part of this group.
Fortunately, both of Bayern’s youth teams managed to win their games and this match proved that every bit of help was required. Despite utter Bavarian domination in the first 15 minutes, Aston Villa proved to be extremely tricky opponents, able to make Bayern uncomfortable time and again. Fortunately, Bayern has that bit of extra quality in the team, exemplified by the winning goal as captain Adam Aznou delivered a gorgeous, perfectly weighted pass to forward Jonah Kusi-Asare for a one-on-one, who in turn made the finish look extremely easy.
As the Champions League format changed, so did the one of the Youth League. As with the Champions League, the Youth League is organized into one big table with 36 but just 6 games are played in this group phase. With 6 points from 6, Bayern is level with 6 other clubs at the top of the table. The U-19’s next match will be in the league, as they will face SpVgg Unterhaching on Saturday, October 19 at 4:00AM CST. After that, however, is the away trip to FC Barcelona, which can be viewed live without charge on UEFA’s official website.
Bayern lineup (with subs): Ruland – Ajayi (58. Hentcho Nseke), Schmid (46. Lambe), Pavlić, Moumouni – Snip (81. Afanou), Göttlicher (72. Özmen), Karl – Mike, Gashi, Egwuatu (58. Wijks, 72. Matosevic).
Goals: 0:1 Lennart Karl (6.), 0:2 Lennart Karl (28.), 0:3 Lennart Karl (33.), 0:4 Mike Wisdom (77.)
Bayern’s U-17 team got another win under their belt as they blew SSV Ulm’s U-17s out of the water. A first half hat trick, defined by technical class and controlled finishing, by the starboy Lennart Karl did the damage in the first half. Mike Wisdom finished the game off late. Most may remember Wisdom as the 13-year-old who cost the Bavarians €300,000 in combined transfer and moving fees and was at the front of many newspapers as so many criticized the fee. Such mayhem is so very typical from the German media.
Regardless, this result leaves Bayern with 9 wins from 9 and on 27 points with a +44 goal difference. The U-17’s next match is currently expected to be against Ingolstadt on the 12th of October. We will see if the international break and subsequent call ups may cause the match to get delayed or not.
