Saarbruken Tops Bayern

By Anonymous (not verified), November 3, 2023

From Religion of Sports

A Club Worth $7 Million Just Beat a $1 Billion Juggernaut

Inside FC Saarbrücken’s stunning upset of Bayern Munich in the German Cup


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Sports, more than just about anything else, are governed by rules. There’s a way that they’re supposed to work, a way things are supposed to go. Games all last the same length. A score is always worth the same amount. And almost always, when David plays Goliath, Goliath wins.

But not in the German Cup.

As the old saying goes: Der Pokal hat seine eigenen Gesetze.

The Cup has its own laws.

That was certainly the case Wednesday when FC Saarbrücken stunned Bayern Munich with a last second goal to advance past the second round.

The German Cup is the equivalent of the FA Cup in England; it’s a competition open to professional teams of all levels in the country. With no regards to stature, the lowliest of sides can face German’s most illustrious. That’s how you get matchups like FC Saarbrücken, who play in the third-division, against Bayern Munich, one of the most dominant clubs in the world. It’d be as if Montgomery Biscuits played the New York Yankees—and won.

FC Saarbrücken played its first game in 1903, and even back then, they were lovable losers hailing from the Saar, a no-mans-land between France and Germany. In 1963, after a decade operating essentially as an independent country, Saar had been reunified with West Germany and its club became among the first 16 sides to make up the first edition of the German Bundesliga, the country’s top flight. After that first season, Saarbrücken was relegated. They’ve floundered ever since.

Saarbrücken have dropped as far down the German soccer pyramid as the fifth tier, climbing up some before falling down again. Meanwhile, Bayern has done nothing short of dominating the sport in Germany like nobody has before: they’ve won the Bundesliga a staggering 11 times in a row. There is so much talent on Bayern’s roster that its players are valued at a some greater than $1 billion. Saarbrücken’s roster is worth less than $7 million.

The champs—Bayern—had to travel to Saarbrücken for the game, though almost immediately, they signaled that it wouldn’t be much of a contest. In the 16th minute, Bayern superstar Thomas Müller netted a goal. But in stoppage time of the first half, in a harbinger of what was to come, Saarbrücken tied it up, 1-1. Both sides fought the second half to a draw until, in the sixth minute of stoppage time, in the 96th minute of the game, Saarbrücken’s Marcel Gaus, a 34-year-old who has played professionally in Germany since he was 16, drilled the ball into the back of the net.

The announcer roared. The Saarbrücken crowd lit flares, waved flags, jumped all over each other. The players lifted their hands in triumph.

Saarbrücken 2, Bayern Munich 1.

It’s not supposed to happen like that. But remember what they say in Germany?

Der Pokal hat seine eigenen Gesetze.

The Cup has its own laws.Sa

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