Welcome to the FC Bayern Campus Round Up, where the matches of Bayern Munich’s U-23, U-19 and U-17 squads are recapped, line ups are provided and the highlights to the matches are hyperlinked on top of their respective score line. Remember, to watch highlights you need to have established an account on the website but do not need to spend any money.
Information on U-23, U-19 and U-17 matches (as well as further youth teams) is provided by the official FC Bayern website here, here and here, respectively.
If you wish to learn more about the format of the U-17 and U-19’s youth leagues and what is at stake, you can find more info here. Additionally, none of these matches can be viewed in full length without an FCBayernTV subscription. Without further ado, here is the round up:
Würzburger Kicker 2-1 Bayern U-23s (II), Matchday 28
Bayern line up (with subs): Bärtl – Manuba, Heindl, Puljić, Ofli (61. Zöls) – Deziel Jr., Heinz, Della Rovere (16. Sadat) – Schuhbauer, Darboe, Scott (46. Yanda).
Goals: 0:1 Sadat (54.), 1:1 Thomann (56.)., 2:1 Bonga (90.+8/Foulelfmeter)
Red card: Anton Heinz (78.)
Unused subs: Kösters – Bohomo
Unavailable players: Tim Binder, Leon Klanac, Steve Breitkreuz, Younes Aitamer, Louis Richter, David Santos Daiber, Artur Degraf, Benno Schmitz, Maycon Cardozo, Guido Della Rovere
Position: 7., 40 points
Bayern II traveled to 2nd placed Würzburger Kickers, knowing pulling off a result with a weakened squad would require a miracle. Top scorer and main striker Anton Heinz lined up in midfield alongside center back Deziel Jr. in a really makeshift lineup that consisted of just 4 outfield players on the bench. 3 of those players were subbed on, while unused substitute has played less than 50 minutes all season. This was a bare bones squad that would only get more bare bones when midfielder Guido Della Rovere pulled up injured while running back to defend a counter. The extent of the layoff from the non-contact injury is yet to be announced by Bayern, while the Italian was replaced by forward Mudaser Sadat. Clearly, Bayern would need luck to make it through the match.
Bayern did get quite lucky in the first half of the match (and goalkeeper Jannis Bärtl made some excellent saves) as the hosts wasted gilt edged chance after gilt edged chance, even hitting the woodwork twice but failing to score. Things got even better in the second half when substitute Julien Yanda’s brilliantly improvised cross found the head of fellow substitute Sadat, who managed to steer it into the back of the net. But not long after the pressure of the home side eventually told, with Martin Thomann taking advantage of plenty of space at the edge of the box to rifle home a fantastic goal. The home side continued the pressure and things got even worse when the Bavarians’ best player, Heinz, earned himself a red card through a petulant challenge. The nature of Würzburger’s winner was the most crushing blow of it all, as a clumsy challenge from Maximilian Schuhbauer in the sixth minute of added time gifted the hosts the chance to get the winner from the penalty spot. They duly did so.
Bayern II continue to drift with no real goal, 18 points clear of the relegation zone and 22 points away from the promotion playoff. 6 games remain before the season ends and real changes can be made behind the scenes. The first changes are already happening as Ljubo Puljić reportedly extended his expiring contract to 2027 and Dante is heavily rumored to take over as U-23 head coach. For now, the Bavarians’ next match will be on Friday, April 17, as they host 11th placed Ansbach.
Berliner AK 0- 3 Bayern U-19, Matchday 8
Bayern line up (with subs): Prescott – Ajayi, Schäfer, Pavić, Matosevic (82. Moumouni) – Schmid (82. Wilson), Lambe (65. Hentcho Nseke) – Gashi (65. Snip), Olychenko (82. Mijatović), Egwuatu (67. Chemwor), Codjo-Evora.
Goals: 0:1 Egwuatu (4.), 0:2 Boulehris OG (23.), 0:3 Codjo-Evora (90.)
Unused subs: (Goalkeeper) Ruland
Unavailable players: Chivano Wijks, Wisdom Mike, Michel Ekodi, Raphel Pavlić, Cassiano Kiala, Chris Afanou
Position: 4., 11 points
Remember, Bayern’s U-19s need to be in the top 4 of the table in order to progress to the next round and it remains a close battle despite an ultimately comfortable victory over Berliner AK. The hosts are comfortably the worst team in the league, sitting on 0 points from 7 matches and a -17 goal difference before this match. This was a necessary victory and fortunately the U-19s pulled it off. Two early goals through Frank Egwuatu’s opener and an own goal from the unfortunate Yassin Boulehris made the match comfortable for Bayern. Despite an iffy second half, Bayern retained their advantage and added gloss to the scoreline through Noah Codjo-Evora in the final minute.
More good news comes in the form of the returns of Roko Mijatović, Ryan Moumouni and Oluwaseyi Wilson. The three long time injured players finally made their returns to the squad today and even came on to the pitch together with 8 minutes to play. Their injury troubles have troubled them the entire season long, so it is good to see them finally make their returns.
The table now looks like this:
- Rasenballsport Leipzig, 16 points
- Borussia Mönchengladbach, 14 points
- FC Kaisersalutern, 14 points
- FC Bayern, 13 points
- Hannover 96, 11 points
- Berliner AK, 0 points
Hannover are just 2 points behind Bayern with 2 matches remaining, though Bayern’s much superior goal difference (8 to -2 in the Bavarians’ favor) essentially grants them an extra point. But Bayern’s remaining fixture list is harder, as they will travel to Mönchengladbach on Saturday, April 18 before hosting Leipzig the following weekend. Meanwhile, Hannover will travel to Berliner AK before hosting Borussia Mönchengdlbach. Bayern will need to keep winning to make it to the final phase of league play and ensure their season does not end in April.
FC Köln U-17 1-5 Bayern U-17, Matchday 9
Bayern line up (with subs): Podar-Stiube – Nuraj (76. Pucci), Gashi, Zogaj, El Chaar – Hentcho Nseke (85. Turbic), Osmani, Horoszczak, Danioko (76. Ludwig) – Schaff, von Taube (85. Attalai).
Goals: 0:1 Schaff (24.), 0:2 Osmani (46.), 0:3 Schaff (63.), 0:4 Osmani (72.), 1:4 Mballa (83.), 1:5 Attalai (89.)
Position: 3., 11 points
Now this was a very welcome surprise. Remember, the U-17s need to finish in the top 4 just as the U-19s do and there is just one matchday left before all 10 games of the group are played. Bayern traveled to league leaders FC Köln in a must win match. If they wanted to control their fate and chances to qualify for the knockout rounds, they would have to collect all three points here to boost themselves from 5th place in the league. Köln had not previously lost a single match this round and had outclassed Bayern in Munich.
But the Bavarians rallied and put in an impressive team performance with their backs agains the wall, smashing the leaders 5-1 on their own turf. There was an element of good fortune (such as Simon Schaff’s first goal coming from an overhit pass that fooled the opposition defense or Erblin Osmani’s ‘Olimpico’ goal) and errors from the opponents (Köln’s goalkeeper made a horrendous mistake with the ball for Bayern’s second goal) but Bayern created more chances and better chances all game long and fully deserved the victory.
The table now looks like this:
- FC Köln, 17 points*
- Karlsruhe SC, 16 points
- FC Bayern, 11 points
- 1. FC Nürnberg, 11 points
- TSG Hoffenheim, 9 points*
- 1. FC Kaiserslautern, 8 points
*- game in hand
This victory was crucial not just because it gives the Bavarians the chance to control their fate, but it boosts their goal difference as well. Bayern now have an insurmountable goal difference advantage over the teams it is above. If TSG Hoffenheim win their match in hand against Köln, they can overtake Bayern. But even if this happens, as long as Bayern beat FC Kaiserslautern at home on Saturday, April 18, they will stay above Nürnberg and qualify for the next phase of league play.
One cannot overstate just how important and unexpected of a victory this was.
