Augsburg Shock Bayern Munich to End Bundesliga Giants’ Long Unbeaten Run

Augsburg pulled off a major upset on Saturday, defeating Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich 2-1 to hand the defending champions their first league loss since March.

Bayern appeared on course for another routine win after Hiroki Ito gave them an early advantage, heading in a Michael Olise corner in the 23rd minute. However, Augsburg mounted a spirited second-half comeback, scoring twice in the space of six minutes.

Arthur Chaves capitalised on an error by Bayern’s stand-in goalkeeper Jonas Urbig to equalise with 14 minutes remaining, before Han-Noah Massengo finished a flowing team move to put Augsburg ahead. The win marked Augsburg’s first victory in Munich since 2015.

Olise came close to rescuing a point for Bayern when he struck the post deep into stoppage time, but Augsburg held firm for a memorable triumph.

Despite the defeat, Bayern remain comfortably top after an extraordinary season in which they recorded the best opening half in Bundesliga history, dropping just four points from a possible 54 in their first 18 matches. Second-placed Borussia Dortmund can reduce the gap to eight points with a win at Union Berlin later on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Hoffenheim strengthened their grip on a top-four position with a 3-1 comeback victory at struggling Eintracht Frankfurt. Frankfurt, who dismissed coach Dino Toppmoeller last Sunday, had gone ahead through Arnaud Kalimuendo, but Hoffenheim responded with three goals in 13 second-half minutes. Max Moerstedt and Ozan Kabak scored, while Aurele Amenda put through his own net, leaving Hoffenheim third, three points behind Dortmund.

RB Leipzig moved into fourth place with a convincing 3-0 win over Heidenheim, courtesy of goals from Ridle Baku, Antonio Nusa and captain David Raum.

Bayer Leverkusen snapped a three-match losing run as former Real Madrid defender Lucas Vazquez scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win against Werder Bremen. The result lifted the 2024 champions to sixth.

Mainz continued their revival with a 3-1 victory over Wolfsburg. Bottom at Christmas, Mainz have now taken nine points from their last six matches to climb into the relegation playoff spot.

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