With three points in the locker after the hard-fought opening day win against VfL Wolfsburg, FC Bayern’s first Bundesliga road trip would take them to Gelsenkirchen and a meeting with perennial title rivals Schalke 04. The game would see the much-anticipated debut of Spanish international defensive midfielder and former Real Madrid stalwart Xabi Alonso, while at the same time the somewhat less heralded Sebastian Rode – signed from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer – would also make his first Bundesliga start.
Bayern would come into the game off the back of a seven-game winning streak against the “Royal Blues”, and would immediately find their rhythm. With just ten minutes on the clock Robert Lewandowski would score that crucial first Bundesliga goal in Bayern colours, finishing off a fine move involving the impressive Rode. The men in blue would be visibly reeling as Guardiola’s side threatened to take the game away from them completely, but for all the excellent buildup Bayern’s play in the final third would let them down.
The visitors had completely dominated the first half and should have really been out of sight at the break, but somehow Schalke would still be in the contest. One sensed that something unpleasant was on the cards, and so it would prove.
The first blow would come on the hour mark when Jérome Boatentg would hobble off, and his replacement Dante had been on the field for less than two minutes when out of nowhere Schalke would produce a completely undeserved – and clearly illegal – equaliser. A free-kick would float into the Bayern box and Alonso would arrive to clear, only to see the ball ricochet off the arm of Benedikt Höwedes and into the back of the net. While the handball would be obvious to everybody in the ground and watching it on television, referee Marco Fritz would point to the centre circle – much to the amazement of the Bayern players.
Spurred on by what was clearly a massive stroke of good fortune, the home side would pile everybody behind the ball for the remaining thirty or so minutes to claim a precious point. Lewandowski would shoot over the target and right at the death would be denied by Brazilian Felipe Santana, and Bayern would just have to make do with the draw.
Bundesliga Week 2
Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, 30.08.2014
FC Schalke 04 1:1 (0:1) FC Bayern
Höwedes 62. / Lewandowski 10.
Schalke: Fährmann – Ayhan (76. Aogo), Felipe Santana (81. Fuchs), Matip, Höwedes – Höger, Kirchhoff (40. Neustädter) – Sam, Meyer, Draxler – Choupo-Moting
FC Bayern: Neuer – Lahm, Boateng (60. Dante), Badstuber, Alaba – Rode, Alonso (68. Højbjerg) – Shaqiri, Müller, Götze (57. Bernat) – Lewandowski
Yellow Cards: Kirchhoff, Höger, Draxler, Sam / Rode