Freiburg defeat Bayern with late penalty to reach Cup semi-finals

A late spot-kick awarded Freiburg a dramatic 2-1 win at Bayern Munich on Tuesday, their first-ever in Munich, and secured them a spot in the German Cup semi-finals.

Last year’s finalists Freiburg cancelled out Dayot Upamecano’s 20th-minute opener for Bayern with a stunner from Nicolas Höfler in the 27th minute.

But the match came down to a late spot-kick, awarded to Freiburg due to a handball from substitute Jamal Musiala, and Lucas Höler kept it cool to fire his side to a Cup semi-final for a second consecutive season after they were defeated by RB Leipzig in the final last year.

“Would have been better to have done it a few years ago,” Freiburg coach Christian Streich told broadcasters ARD about their first win at Bayern.

“We had a bit of luck, but we were also passionate,” he added.

The late goal caused an explosion of joy among Freiburg players and fans, and defender Matthias Ginter said: “I no longer have a voice. This was possible because of the spirit of this team.”

After some failed attempts, Bayern opened the scoring once Upamecano finished off Joshua Kimmich’s corner with a header.

Michael Gregoritsch saw his header saved by keeper Yann Sommer in the 25th, but Freiburg eventually found an answer just two minutes later once Höfler fired a stunner from distance into the net.

The game was only lively again at the end of the half. After a furious counter-attack from Bayern, Thomas Müller tried to find Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, but keeper Mark Flekken intercepted the ball with his fingertips.

Müller himself then aimed for the net, but Ginter cleared the ball before it could reach the goal.

The second half saw a very open game, with Bayern still the most dangerous team up front, but both sides lacking accuracy in front of the goal.

“It was bad, I have to say it’s very bitter. It’s not so easy to analyse this game,” Müller said. “We missed a bit of precision in the last action, the final pass.”

It’s the third consecutive time Bayern suffer a shock elimination from the Cup. Last season, they went down to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the second round, while in the 2020-21 season they were defeated on penalties by second-division side Holstein Kiel also in the second round.

The Bavarians have recently signed coach Thomas Tuchel after dismissing Julian Nagelsmann late March due to inconsistent results. He made his debut with a big 4-2 win in the Bundesliga table-topper against Borussia Dortmund, but failed in his first decisive game.

“I’m very disappointed. Quarter-finals, losing at home…of course I’m responsible, but we’re in this together. We win together, we lose together,” Tuchel said.

“We always had good moments, but we couldn’t hold on to that,” he added.

Earlier, Randal Kolo Muani’s brace led Eintracht Frankfurt to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Union Berlin.

In a crushing first half from Frankfurt, Kolo Muani had a first early attempt palmed by keeper Lennart Grill, but he broke the deadlock in the 11th after he was served by a classy backheel pass from Mario Götze.

The French striker added a second to his name just two minutes later. He was once again found by Götze on the right and chipped the ball over Grill, who was out of the goal.

Frankfurt, the 2018 Cup winners, have reached the semi-finals for the first time since 2020, when they were defeated by Bayern. Tuesday’s win was their first across all competitions since February.

“We were sensational in the first half and even had the opportunity to put the game to bed earlier. The win was completely deserved in the end,” coach Oliver Glasner said.

Union captain Christopher Trimmel recognized that “the first half made the difference today. In the end, we are happy that we only conceded two goals.”

Champions Leipzig welcome Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday in the quarter-finals, while Sebastian Hoeneß will make his debut as VfB Stuttgart coach at second-division side Nuremberg.