German champion Bayern Munich needed more than 80 minutes to break the deadlock against regional club Drochtersen/Assel and win 1-0 in the German Cup first round Saturday as holder Eintracht Frankfurt crashed out against amateur Ulm.
Bayern, who won the German Super Cup against Frankfurt Sunday, looked far from ready for the Bundesliga season starting next week, failing to create chances against the regional club despite almost complete possession.
The Bavarians fielded a full-strength team but had to wait until Robert Lewandowski's close-range tap-in after 82 minutes to claim victory.
Their opponent, who had refused to move the fixture to one of the bigger stadiums in nearby Hamburg and the bigger revenues from more tickets saying such historic ties should be played on home turf, battled hard in front of the 7,500 crowd.
Drochtersen, pop: 11,500, are a village team in Germany’s fourth tier.
— Bundesliga_reporter (@rylandjames) August 18, 2018
Their ground holds 7,800 and is sold out today for #Fcbayern in the first round of the German Cup.
It’s 0-0 at halftime.
Bayern have 11 internationals.
The Drochtersen captain is a car salesman.#lovethecup
They even had as chance for a sensational lead late in the first half but unmarked Florian Nagel, who snuck into the box, saw his close-range effort blocked by Manuel Neuer.
They started running out of steam in the second half and Thiago Alcantara rattled the crossbar with a 20m shot. But just as Bayern got going their own fans interrupted the game for several minutes by throwing paper rolls onto the pitch.
Lewandowski, however, settled their nerve with his winner to send them through as new coach Niko Kovac breathed a sigh of relief.
Kovac's former club Frankfurt fared worse without him, suffering a 2-1 loss to Ulm to exit the competition but fellow Bundesliga clubs VfL Wolfsburg, TSG Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen advanced.
Borussia Dortmund are in action against Greuther Fuerth Monday while last season's league runners-up Schalke 04 beat regional club Schweinfurt 2-0 on Friday.
