Bayern Munich suffer shock defeat to BATE Borisov

Posted on October 3, 2012 by SoccerPunter

Bayern Munich‘s hopes of reaching the knock-out phase of the Champions League suffered a setback in Minsk on Tuesday as they slumped to a shock 3-1 defeat at Belarus champions BATE Borisov.

With the Group F match being held at Dinamo Stadium in Minsk, Bayern‘s defence leaked goals either side of half-time as midfielder Aleksandr Pavlov, then striker Vitali Rodionov put BATE on the way to their second straight European win.

France wing Franck Ribery then pulled back a late consolation in the 91st minute, but a brilliant Renan Bressan goal from a counter-attack, 10 minutes after he came off the bench, left Bayern Munich well beaten.

Having won 3-1 at Lille in France a fortnight ago, victory in Minsk leaves BATE top of Group F while Bayern failed to back up their opening 2-1 home win over Valencia.

This was Bayern’s first competitive match against a side from Belarus, but it proved to be a long flight back to Munich for last season’s beaten Champions League finalists as the hosts claimed a deserved win.

With Arjen Robben left back in Munich to recover from a thigh injury, midfielder Toni Kroos squandered a great chance to put Bayern ahead when he rounded BATE goalkeeper Andrei Gorbunov, but his shot hit the post on 13 minutes.

After a clever pass from right-back Denis Polyakov in the build-up play, BATE’S Pavlov gave Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer no chance with a low shot to put the hosts ahead on 23 minutes.

Despite enjoying only 40 percent possession, the hosts were only denied doubling their lead by some fine work from Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

A crisp exchange of passes between Rodionov and ex-Arsenal midfielder Aleksandr Hleb opened up some space and after Hleb’s clever backheel, Polyakov’s fierce shot was brilliantly saved by Neuer on 55 minutes.

BATE kept attacking in waves and when Pavlov found himself in space in the penalty area, he could only fire over with the goal at his mercy with 35 minutes left.

Despite the lion’s share of possession, Bayern looked no closer to breaking the Borisov defence with coach Jupp Heynckes throwing on striker Claudio Pizarro and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Munich were finally floored when Rodionov exchanged passes with midfielder Edgar Olekhnovich which put the striker clear and he brushed off both Bayern defenders Jerome Boateng and Dante to fire home on 78 minutes.

A superb through pass from Bayern’s Swiss midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri, who was fresh off the bench, was drilled home by Ribery in added time to give the guests hope.

However, with the Bayern defence all at sea, substitute Dmitri Mozolevsky sprinted clear and passed to fellow replacement Bressan in the 94th minute to compound Bayern’s misery.

Champions League results:

Group E
Nordsjaelland (DEN) 0 Chelsea (ENG) 4
Juventus (ITA) 1 Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 1

Group F
Valencia (ESP) 2 Lille (FRA) 0
BATE Borisov (BLR) 3 Bayern Munich (GER) 1

Group G
Benfica (POR) 0 Barcelona (ESP) 2
Spartak Moscow (RUS) 2 Celtic (SCO) 3

Group H
CFR Cluj (ROM) 1 Manchester United (ENG) 2
Galatasaray (TUR) 0 Braga (POR) 2