54′ Muhling delivers the subsequent set piece but Muller does well to clear under pressure from Lee. Bayern break and force a corner at the other end. Kimmich delivers and Thesker has to clear from under his on crossbar for another Bayern corner.
53′ Hernandez chops down Bartels and the hosts have a dangerous freekick. They’ll throw everybody into the Bayern box for this one.
51′ At 32-years-old, Holstein Kiel manager Ole Werner is the youngest manager in Germany’s top three divisions. With his side sitting third in the German second division, he will be hoping to gain promotion this year and face Bayern again next season. His team are giving them as good as they get tonight.
49′ HUGE CHANCE! The hosts should be level again as Muhling misses a massive chance. The midfielder is free in the Bayern box but from 15 yards out he smashes his effort over the bar. That’s a huge let off for the Bundesliga side.
47′ GOOOOAAAALLLLL!!!! 2-1 BAYERN. SANE WITH A BEAUTY!!!! What a goal this is from the former Manchester City man. The German forward steps up to a freekick 25 yards from goal and wraps his left-footed effort into the top corner of the host’s goal.
46′ Both sets of players are back out on the field and the second half begins. No substitutions for either side at the break.
Hansi Flick may have to turn to his bench to force another breakthrough in this DFB-Pokal match. Lewandowski may be called upon sooner rather than later.
An enthralling first half comes to a close as the two sides head into the changing rooms all square at the break. Gnabry opened the scoring for the visitors with a close-range effort before Bartels equalised for the hosts with a grand finish from the edge of the Bayern penalty area.
45′ + 2′ HALF-TIME: HOLSTEIN KIEL 1-1 BAYERN MUNICH.
45′ + 1′ Meffert is booked for synically bringing down Musiala who was breaking through the hosts’ midfield.
45′ There’ll be a minimum of one minute of additional time to be played. Kiel are really pressuring Bayern here before the break.
43′ Sarr flashes a ball into the box but Wahl does well to turn it behind for a corner. Sane delivers but Sule’s headed effort goes wide.
41′ SAVE! Musiala takes aim with a snapshot from just inside the box but Gelios does well to get down quickly and smartly saves the effort with little fuss.
39′ The ball is in the back of the Bayern net again as Lee finishes from close range but the flag is up for offside on the near side. That was a very tight call!
37′ Dehm gets the assist after we found the onrushing Bartels with his launch up the field.
37′ GOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!! 1-1. HOLSTEIN KIEL LEVEL THROUGH BARTELS!!!! It’s as simple as it gets for the hosts as the ball is lumped up the field by Dehm. Bartels latches onto the pass, takes a few touches to steady himself and then unleashes an unstoppable shot into the far bottom corner of the Bayern net from 20 yards out. Game on!
37′ WHAT A MISS! Bayern should have doubled their lead. Gnabry finds Muller with a smart header but the midfielder lifts his attempt over the bar from just five yards out. That’s a huge let off for the hosts.
35′ Sule plays an inch perfect through ball to Sarr on the right wing but there’s nobody in support for the defender to cut his pass back to. The former Marseille man has looked very dangerous cutting in from his wing so far this evening.
33′ What a player Bayern Munich midfielder Kimmich is. The German international has been key to everything the visitors have produced so far tonight in an attacking sense with his sharp passing. He’s also fantastic at sitting in the centre of the park and shielding his defence.
31′ Penalty shouts from the visitors are waved away by the referee. Sarr broke into the opposition box after a one-two with Muller but the defender looked to already be falling before any contact was made.
29′ If the hosts are going to get back into this DFB-Pokal clash, then expect Lee to be involved in the build-up. The South Korean midfielder has looked excellent so far tonight with his close control.
27′ CLOSE! Kimmich fizzes a ball into Muller who again finds Gnabry with a lay-off. The forward steps inside his man from just outside the box and tries to curl his effort into the far bottom corner. His attempt flashes just wide to the relief of Kiel fans.
24′ Muller finds space out on the right and delivers a cross towards Gnabry at the back post. The forward meets the ball but his effort is weak and doesn’t trouble the opposing goalkeeper.
21′ Manuel Neuer is appearing in his 410th competitive match for Bayern Munich tonight, drawing the shot stopper level with legendary midfielder Lothar Matthäus in the process.
19′ It’s been a good response from the hosts who are starting to control more of the possession now. The Holstein Kiel forwards are working very hard to press the Bayern defenders when they have the ball to try and force a mistake.
17′ Replays of the opening goal show that Gnabry was infact offside but there’s no VAR in use tonight in this DFB-Pokal fixture. That’s a tough one to swallow for the hosts but ultimately, Gelios should have done much better.
14′ GOOOOOAALLLLLL!!! 1-0 BAYERN. GNABRY!!!! A ball is floated into the penalty area and Muller nods the ball down to try and find the onrushing Gnabry. Gelios races out of his net though to intercept and gets there but his clearance only hits the German forward who then coolly converts from six yards out. The Holstein Kiel goalkeeper won’t want to see that one again.
12′ Bayern Munich have reached the DFB-Pokal last 16 round for 19 seasons in a row. The last time the Bavarian side failed to reach that stage was during the 2000/01 season when they lost to FC Magdeburg in the second round.
10′ The first shot of the night comes from the visitors. Muller controls a cross and lays the ball off to Kimmich on the edge of the Holstein Kiel area. The Bayern midfielder hits it first time, but his effort ends up well wide of the mark.
8′ The hosts are growing into this one after Bayern’s strong start. Granted the visitors are still controlling the majority of the ball but both van den Bergh and Dehm are doing well out wide in defence to limit the space Sane and Musiala have.
5′ It looks like Gnabry has indeed started as the lone striker for the visitors but expect him and Muller to frequently switch positions in an effort to break down this stubborn Holstein Kiel defence.
3′ After their loss to Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday evening in the Bundesliga, Bayern boss Hansi Flick will be looking for a response from his side tonight. So far, they’ve dominated the early possession in this DFB-Pokal match.
1′ Referee Robert Schroder blows his whistle and we’re underway here in northern Germany!
The players are emerging from the tunnel and kick-off is just moments away.
Despite the fact that only 19 positions currently separate these two sides on the German football ladder, this will be the first time that Holstein Kiel and Bayern Munich have ever met in a competitive fixture.
Hansi Flick opts to rotate his squad for this DFB-Pokal match but perhaps not as much as some were expecting. Kingsley Coman and Eric Choupo-Moting miss out through injury but Gnabry starts as the lone striker after recovering from his own injury troubles. Musiala, Muller and Sane line up as the three attacking midfielders for the visitors whilst Tolisso joins Kimmich in the centre of the park as Leon Goretzka picked up a knock in training earlier in the day. Sule and Hernandez form the partnership in the heart of the defence as Sarr and Davies start as the full-backs.
The hosts come into this cup match having only lost two matches out of 15 in the German second division and are further boosted by a near fully fit squad available to select from. As a result, boss Ole Werner picks his strongest side as Dehm, Thesker, Wahl and van den Bergh make up the defence for the hosts. Meffert anchors as the defensive midfielder with Lee and Bieler playing in front. Bartels – playing from the left wing – is the hosts dangerman and has been in fantastic form so far this season.
BAYERN MUNICH SUBS: Alexander Nubel, Benjamin Pavard, Javi Martinez, Robert Lewandowski, Douglas Costa, Joshua Zirkzee, Jerome Boateng, Marc Roca, David Alaba.
BAYERN MUNICH (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer; Bouna Sarr, Niklas Sule, Lucas Hernandez, Alphonso Davies; Joshua Kimmich, Corentin Tolisso; Jamal Musiala, Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane; Serge Gnabry.
HOLSTEIN KIEL SUBS: Thomas Dahne, Mikkel Kirkeskov, Marco Komenda, Ahmet Arslan, Fabian Reese, Janni Serra, Phil Neumann, Benjamin Girth, Niklas Hauptmann.
HOLSTEIN KIEL (4-1-4-1): Ioannis Gelios; Jannik Dehm, Stefan Thesker, Hauke Wahl, Johannes van den Bergh; Jonas Meffert; Joshua Mees, Jae-sung Lee, Alexander Muhling, Fin Bartels; Finn Porath.
Reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich face tough opposition in Holstein Kiel tonight in the second round of Germany’s DFB-Pokal. Before the clash, Bayern boss Hansi Flick has warned his side that the hosts – who currently sit third in 2. Bundesliga – have ‘nothing to lose’ tonight and for his men to expect a difficult match as they travel to the very north of the country. As a result, it’s expected that we’ll see a strong Bayern side tonight as the Bavarians continue the defence of their German cup crown.
Hello and welcome to our live text commentary of this DFB-Pokal fixture between Holstein Kiel and Bayern Munich.
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