Of all teams for Bayern Munich to have slipped up against in Bundesliga, a struggling Mainz side surely wasn’t on too many people’s bingo cards, but they dropped points to them at the Allianz Arena, drawing
level at 2-2. It took a late Harry Kane penalty for the German Rekordmeister to even salvage a point as it looked like Daniel Batz’s heroics in goal for Mainz were going to leave Bayern with blushed faces on their last home match of the year.
Vincent Kompany was left to rue the fact that his side only scored once from open play from a total of their ten shots on target, while Mainz scored from both of their chances on frame; one from a Kacper Potulski header from a free kick and the other from a header from Lee Jae-sung, getting on the end of a sublime lobbed pass from Stefan Bell.
For Kompany, he made several changes to the starting lineup from the side that started in the 3-1 Champions League over Sporting Lisbon, but he brought on all of Aleksandar Pavlović, Dayot Upamecano, Konrad Laimer, Nicolas Jackson and Alphonso Davies in the second half, all of whom started from the bench.
To add to the frustration of the draw, Laimer received a yellow card in 77th minute after his arm accidentally made contact with what appeared to be a Lee Jae-sung’s shoulder area as the two leapt into the air to win the ball. After seeing the slow-motion replay during the live broadcast of the match, a yellow card seemed a bit harsh for the Austrian international, who had hardly been whistled for anything in the 14 minutes that he had been on the pitch before the challenge occurred.
For Laimer, the caution against Mainz means he will now miss Bayern’s final match of 2025 against Heidenheim next weekend due to a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation, which Luis Diaz was serving for the Mainz draw. While Kompany still has more than enough personnel at his disposal. not having Laimer for a tricky trip to Heidenheim will be something he certainly doesn’t prefer, as the Austrian has been quite the reliable, auxiliary feature in the Bayern squad with his ability to play in both defense and midfield. Impressively, he’s tallied two goals and seven assists from a total of twenty-four appearances across all competitions, primarily from the right back position, the most recent assist having come in the 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.
Kompany will have a few different options as far as what he’ll do at right back at Heidenheim, but he could slot Josip Stanišić or Joshua Kimmich into that spot in Laimer’s absence. Even Raphaël Guerreiro could deputize there if need be, though he’s far more effective playing on the left and likewise Tom Bischof, who has started at left back a handful of times so far this season.
