Hoffenheim extends Bayern misery
BERLIN — Coach Carlo Ancelotti said Bayern Munich was caught cold in Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Hoffenheim that left it fifth in the Bundesliga — its lowest position since 2014.
Striker Mark Uth scored both Hoffenheim goals as Ancelotti paid the price for rotating his squad ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League home match against Anderlecht.
Defending champion Bayern lost despite 72 percent possession and 23 shots on goal, while Hoffenheim scored twice on just six shots.
“Little details made the difference and we went behind because we didn’t concentrate,” fumed Ancelotti.
“It was the same thing on the second goal, which made things difficult.
“We had a lot of opportunities, but we could not make use of them and did not concentrate 100 percent.
“Hoffenheim only got into the box three times and scored twice. The other chance was saved by Manuel Neuer. They made the most of their chances, and we didn’t.”
Ancelotti’s decision to start Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery on the bench backfired as Thomas Mueller had a poor game in his 400th appearance for the club.
Bayern fell behind in the 27th minute after the defense was slow to react to a quick throw-in from Andrej Kramaric that led to Uth firing past Neuer.
“We didn’t behave well after going 1-0 down,” said Neuer.
“We had Hoffenheim completely under control, but we didn’t take the lead, that is the problem.”
Uth drilled home his second in the 51st minute as the host registered back-to-back wins over the Bavarian giant, which had been unbeaten in the league since losing 1-0 at Hoffenheim in April.
“We are happy that we won today; we were worse in all the stats but that does not matter,” said 30-year-old Hoffeheim coach Julian Nagelsmann.
“Bayern came out quite differently from the way they played last season.”
The fast reactions of a Hoffenheim ballboy, who quickly gave Kramaric a ball in the build-up to Uth’s first goal, helped the host’s cause, but Nagelsmann defended the youngster.
“We have a policy in training that the ballboys get the ball back into the game as quickly as possible,” said Nagelsmann.
“Besides, they have learned from the best at Bayern Munich, and Manuel Neuer often gets the ball quickly at Allianz Arena before the opposition has had time to react.”