Bayern Munich suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at third-tier outfit Saarbrucken as the Bundesliga champions crashed out in the second round of the DFB-Pokal.
Thomas Tuchel’s men led through Thomas Muller’s 16th-minute effort, only to end up red-faced as their opponents pulled off a remarkable turnaround.
Patrick Sontheimer equalised in first-half stoppage time, and after Bayern failed to take a number of second-half opportunities, Marcel Gaus struck in added time to complete the giant-killing.
It made for some contrast to Bayern’s previous outing, the 8-0 demolition of Darmstadt at the Allianz Arena four days earlier in the Bundesliga.
Tuchel made five changes to his starting XI from that game, with top-scorer Harry Kane among those dropping to the bench.
It appeared business as usual for the visitors when two of those brought into the side combined to give them the lead just past the quarter-hour mark, Muller striking past Tim Schreiber having been teed up by Frans Kratzig.
But rather than the floodgates opening for Bayern – who were forced to take off Matthijs De Ligt due to an apparent knee injury in the 24th minute, with Konrad Laimer coming on – it was Saarbrucken showing the greater threat for the remainder of the first half.
Kasim Rabihic was to the fore, unable to make the most of a couple of chances with Manuel Neuer gathering the ball each time, before the home side equalised just prior to the interval, Kratzig losing possession and the ball coming to Lukas Boeder, whose pass set up a simple finish for Sontheimer.
After Leroy Sane twice saw efforts saved by Schreiber following the resumption, Tuchel opted to include him in a treble substitution on the hour that saw Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry enter the fray.
All three were soon trying their luck – a curling Musiala shot five minutes later was dealt with by Schreiber, who subsequently denied Gnabry, and the goalkeeper then did well to tip Coman’s strike over the bar.
Muller headed off-target and Coman saw another attempt parried by Schreiber as Bayern’s frustration continued.
Having survived that pressure, Saarbrucken then secured a famous victory by scoring their second in the sixth minute of added time, substitute Tim Civeja producing a cut-back and Gaus firing in to leave the illustrious opposition stunned.
Ancelotti lauds Real Madrid goalscorer Vinicius after first-leg double
Carlo Ancelotti believes Vinicius Junior is constantly developing his attacking output, after the Real Madrid forward delivered again in the Champions League.
Vinicius scored twice as Madrid drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday.
Those strikes took Vinicius to 31 goal involvements (16 goals, 15 assists) in the Champions League since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, which is more than any other player in the competition in the same time period.
Vinicius' opener came when he cut inside and latched onto an exceptional pass from Toni Kroos, and Ancelotti pointed out how the Brazil international is beginning to change how he attacks.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Ancelotti said: "Vinicius is starting to understand how important it is for him to move inside the pitch and not only close to the line.
"He's learned really well how to move. It was a fantastic pass from Kroos but a fantastic run from Vinicius."
Reflecting on his team's performance, Ancelotti said: "It was an interesting game, an open game of course – as it has to be for a semi-final. I think we could play better, I don’t think we played our best and we had problems in the first half.
"We started to put pressure on in the second half to level the game – it was much better.
"We are comfortable with a low block but we didn’t play with intensity. With a low block you have to have intensity, you have to win duels, second balls. We were too low. We tried to change something.
"The game was difficult at 2-1 down, but then we had the energy and character to equalise – the second part of the second half was really good."
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
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