Freiburg victory for Bayern boosted Leverkusen’s title hopes.BREISGAU, FREIBURG: Friday’s match between Bayern Munich and Freiburg ended in a 2-2 draw. Lucas Hoeler’s equalizer in the 87th minute gave leaders Bayer Leverkusen the opportunity to go ahead by ten points. After an excellent start from Freiburg captain Christian Guenter, Mathys Tel’s 35th-minute stunner appeared to have sealed the three points for Bayern. Then, Jamal Musiala’s outstanding solo effort appeared to have sealed the victory.

But Hoeler had other ideas. He chipped a volley past an impotent Manuel Neuer and through a packed Bayern penalty area. In the opening thirty minutes, Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel chastised his team for their “body language and lack of bite,” telling DAZN that “we played completely without structure and had no discipline and weren’t in our positions.” Tuchel described his team as “panicky,” saying, “We played like it was the 85th minute and we were a goal down. We did things that we’ve never trained, that we’ve never spoken about.”

Musiala expressed his frustration to DAZN. “I’ve always believed that we must win and that we detest losing since I joined Bayern. “Our goals are to win titles and the Bundesliga,” he declared. In four games since January, Bayern has now lost away from home in the Bundesliga and the Champions League. With a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Rome, Tuchel’s team faces Lazio at home on Tuesday in the Champions League round of 16. With that loss, they face an early exit.

In their derby match on Sunday against lowly Cologne, Xabi Alonso’s undefeated Bayer Leverkusen can move ten points clear of the Bavarians as they look to win the Bundesliga for the first time ever. Vincenzo Grifo of Freiburg said to DAZN, “We had a good game.” “It’s obvious that you will have to suffer when playing Bayern.” AFP

After 12 minutes, Guenter gave the home team the lead with a spinning rocket that landed in the bottom right corner of the goal from outside the box. The goal was the team’s only effort from outside the box this season and the first for the Freiburg captain.

Feeling that Guenter should not have the entire highlight reel to himself, Tel responded with a long-range curling goal on his second league start of the year. With fifteen minutes left, Musiala dribbled past three Freiburg defenders and fired a low shot into the right corner of the goal, despite Bayern controlling the possession but failing to create clear opportunities.

Musiala described the objective as “just instinct.” “You dribble and try to see what you can make.” Bayern lost momentum even though they were ahead and dug in to maintain their slim lead. Hoeler eluded multiple Bayern defenders with three minutes left in regular time before chipping a volley past Neuer and into the goal.

Max Eberl, the sporting director of Bayern Munich, had stated during his unveiling this week that the team would still challenge Leverkusen for the title, but the draw ruined his first day on the job. With just five points separating seventh and fifteenth place in the crowded Bundesliga standings, Freiburg ends the evening in ninth place thanks to the point. -AFP