Fans return to Bundesliga games for first time since March
Bayern rout Schalke in record win for league opener
BERLIN, Sept 19, (AP): Supporters returned to the Bundesliga for the first time since coronavirus restrictions began in March but none of them saw their teams win opening games of the new season on Saturday.
No away fans were allowed across the league as strict measures against the coronavirus remained in place.
It meant Arminia Bielefeld faced 6,500 Eintracht Frankfurt supporters as they held on for a 1-1 draw on their return to the top tier in Germany after an 11-year absence. Midfielder Cebio Soukou scored for Bielefeld in the 51st minute, before André Silva equalized in the 62nd.
Some 8,000 fans were allowed to watch promoted Stuttgart’s return against Freiburg, only for the team to lose 3-2 despite a late fightback.
Union Berlin lost 3-1 at home to Augsburg, Cologne was beaten 3-2 at home by Hoffenheim, and Hertha Berlin coasted to a 4-1 win at Werder Bremen.
Plans to have fans at Cologne’s game against Hoffenheim were shelved due to a rise in coronavirus infections locally.
Former Union goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz helped Augsburg win in front of 5,000 fans in Köpenick with a brilliant reflex save to deny Cedric Teuchert a late equalizer before André Hahn sealed the visitors’ win.
Gikiewicz had received a warm reception before kickoff. The fans then cheered their new goalkeeper, Andreas Luthe, who made the switch in the opposite direction.
Ruben Vargas
scored
with
Augsburg’s first chance in the 41st.
Former Germany striker Max Kruse came on in the 71st for his Union debut, but it was another forward, Marius Bülter, who finally equalized in the 74th, finishing off a low cross from Christopher Lenz.
Bülter almost set up another minutes later, then won a corner as the home side pushed for more.
But Michael Gregoritsch scored against the run of play for Augsburg in the 82nd, and Gikiewicz’s brilliant save denied his former team.
The new Bundesliga began in an empty stadium on Friday with eighttime defending champions Bayern
Munich routing Schalke 8-0 for a record in the league’s opening match. And it should have been more. Germany winger Leroy Sané starred and scored on his Bayern debut and Jamal Musiala became Bayern’s youngest ever goalscorer at 17 years, 205 days, but otherwise it was business as usual as they totally dominated and the visitors tried limiting the damage.
Schalke’s winless run stretched to 17 games, while Bayern extended their winning run to 22.
Serge Gnabry scored a hat trick and Sané set up two of the goals. It was 3-0 by halftime and Bayern missed a host of chances.
“Everyone was so hungry. We were all looking forward to the new start and we just wanted to attack,” said Sané, a former Schalke player who joined Bayern from Manchester City in the offseason.
The game took place without fans despite plans for 7,500 spectators to attend. A spike in local coronavirus infections forced authorities to row back.
“It’s a really big blow. We were really looking forward to our fans,” Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić said before kickoff.
The team showed no ill effect from the supporters’ absence, nor the short break of 26 days after winning the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.
It was the biggest opening night win since 2016 when Bayern Werder Bremen 6-0.
Gnabry got the side off to a flying start in the fourth minute, taking Joshua Kimmich’s pass from midfield, switching direction to elude Schalke captain Benjamin Stambouli, then unleashing a fine strike with his left boot inside the left corner.
Robert Lewandowski almost made it 2-0 a minute later after being set up by Sané, but Sebastian Rudy managed to deflect the Poland striker’s shot with his outstretched leg.
routed