Sports World Couldn’t Believe Bayern Munich Beat German Club by 27 Goals in Friendly
Cross the border into Germany from Austria on Bundesstraße 307, an alpine highway, and you will happen upon the tiny town of Rottach-Egern. It’s barely a dot on the Bavarian map, with a population just over 5,000, but like many small German towns it has a soccer team.
On Tuesday, that soccer team happened upon a much bigger town’s soccer team— Munich’s.
Bayern Munich defeated Rottach-Egern 27–0 in a friendly match, taking an 18–0 lead at halftime and never letting up in the intrastate contest.
The win, during which attacking midfielder/winger Jamal Musiala, forward Mathys Tel and midfielder/forward Marcel Sabitzer tallied five goals apiece, drew astonished reactions from around the world.
Some pointed out that it wasn’t first win of its kind for Bayern Munich over Rottach-Egern—the Reds crushed the lower-division side in 2018 and 2019 as well.
Predictably, jokes flew. Some questioned whether friendly was the appropriate word for such a blowout.
Anglophone fans poked fun at Rottach-Egern’s name, inoffensive in German but unfortunate from an English perspective.
Many wondered how the game would go over with gamblers.
Sarcasm was abundant.
Americans compared the matchup to college football’s powerhouse-versus-cupcake battles.
Even former NFL defensive end Chris Long weighed in on the proceedings.
Bayern Munich appears ready for its season, which opens in earnest with the DFL-Supercup against RB Leipzig on Aug. 12. As for Rottach-Egern: there’s no such thing as bad publicity.