Bayern could face punishment after fielding 12 players

Bayern Munich played around nine seconds of their 4-1 Bundesliga win at Freiburg with 12 men after a mix-up with their substitutions, and now the German champions are facing potential punishment from German football authorities.

The Bavarians were a man up for around nine seconds late in the game, as they ran out 4-1 winners to stay comfortably top of the table on Saturday.

But victory has quickly become shrouded in controversy after a mix-up with their substitutes. In the 85th minute, manager Julian Nagelsmann sent on Niklas Sule and Marcel Sabitzer to see out the game.

But instead of two players coming off in their place, only Corentin Tolisso did, with Kingsley Coman mistakenly remaining on the pitch. That was to the almost immediate dismay of the opposition, who alerted the referee to stop the match seconds after play had resumed at the Europa-Park Stadion.

“We drew the referee’s attention to the fact that Bayern had 11 outfield players on the pitch,” Freiburg director Jochen Saier told Sky. “That was bizarre, I haven’t seen that before.”

His club would, however, need to lodge a formal complaint for there to be repercussions for Bayern, who currently sit nine points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

Referee Christian Dingert noted the unusual incident in his report, and the official stated: “Now, the DFB (the German Football Association) must decide.”

Nagelsmann attempted to explain the predicament, and insisted that the nine seconds in which his team had an advantage were insignificant to the final outcome.

“There was the bizarre situation. The fourth official showed the wrong number, and Kingsley Coman didn’t know he had to go off. Nothing decisive happened,” the 34-year-old coaching prodigy added.

German newspaper Sport Bild, via Marca, have suggested that the win could be deducted from the Bavarians’ tally, with a possible further points’ deduction.