Bayern Munich Advances in DFB-Pokal with 4-1 Win Over VfL Osnabrück
Bayern Munich needed only a short trip and a light scare to move on in the DFB-Pokal, brushing aside a spirited VfL Osnabrück 4-1 in a tie that was more routine than riveting.
It was the kind of cup win that satisfies the bracket but not necessarily the blood pressure — or the neutral.
Strong XI, little mercy
There was no charity in the team sheet. Bayern did not lean on heavy rotation, and that alone told Osnabrück what kind of night awaited.
Kim Min-jae started ahead of Dayot Upamecano, Josip Stanišić came in for Konrad Laimer, and Nathaniel Brown got the nod over Alphonso Davies at left-back. In midfield, Tom Bischof earned a start in place of Aleksandar Pavlović and grabbed it with both hands.
No shocks. Just enough tweaks to keep things interesting without weakening the spine.
Chaos, then control
What followed in the opening minutes bordered on slapstick for the German champions.
On 5 minutes, a messy cocktail of lax defending from Jonathan Tah and Kim, a slip from Tah, over-eager positioning from goalkeeper Jonas Urbig and a thunderous finish from Robin Meißner gave Osnabrück a stunning 1-0 lead. One long ball, one bounce, one rocket. Bayern looked around as if wondering whether the cup gods were in the mood for mischief.
The stadium erupted. The home crowd, already in full voice and backed by a superb tifo, sensed a night to remember.
Bayern, though, didn’t blink. They pinned Osnabrück back, dominated the ball, but kept running into a purple wall. The underdogs were compact, combative and not remotely overawed.
Ismael Saibari struggled to find his rhythm in that early storm. His movement was ambitious, his ideas sharp, but the final touch deserted him. He never quite clicked into the attacking carousel.
Kane settles the nerves, Bischof announces himself
The pressure finally told in the 18th minute.
Joshua Kimmich lofted a clever ball towards Harry Kane, who made a straight run through the middle. A desperate Osnabrück defender could only head the ball straight up, not out. It hung in the air for a heartbeat. Kane didn’t hesitate. He met it with a fierce volley to level at 1-1, a ruthless finish that drained the upset out of the tie.
Five minutes later, Bayern flipped the scoreline.
Michael Olise slid a perfectly weighted pass into Luis Díaz. His shot was well saved by Jonas Krumrey, but Bischof had read the moment, arrived in the right pocket and buried the rebound for 2-1. The young midfielder, once of Hoffenheim, was everywhere — snapping into challenges, offering himself between the lines, and constantly asking questions of Osnabrück’s tiring legs.
Bischof’s work rate bordered on relentless. Every second ball seemed to find him; every loose pass, he chased down.
At the back, it was a very different story. The new partnership of Tah and Kim looked uneasy. Distances weren’t right, communication felt off, and Tah in particular appeared rusty, struggling in side-to-side movements and never fully convincing in his duels. It wasn’t disastrous, but it was disjointed.
On the flank, Brown produced a split performance: solid and steady defensively, almost invisible going forward. The pattern of the game didn’t help him — Bayern funneled most of their attacks through the middle and the right — and that theme stayed with him until Davies replaced him later.
The left-back battle between Brown and Davies is one of the subplots of Bayern’s season. On this evidence, nothing has been decided. Neither man landed a knockout blow.
Right before the break, Krumrey produced a superb save to deny Olise and keep Osnabrück within touching distance. The underdogs had earned that mercy. They fought for every yard, made every Bayern pass a little more uncomfortable, and refused to let the tie drift away.
Second half drag, Olise kills the contest
The tempo sagged after the interval. Bayern were in control, but the spark faded. This was the danger of an early-season “English Week” — heavy legs, safe passes, and a match that threatened to drift into training-ground pace.
Brown and Saibari made way on 62 minutes, with Davies and Lennart Karl entering the fray. The pattern barely shifted. Bayern probed, Osnabrück hung in, the crowd tried to inject some life.
Olise finally snapped the game out of its lull in the 73rd minute.
Now operating centrally as the attacking midfielder after Saibari’s withdrawal, he danced into the box, used his upper body to shield the ball and finished neatly for 3-1. On another night, under the gaze of VAR, the goal might not have stood — his elbow clearly helped him gain control — but on this one, the referee’s decision stayed and the tie was effectively over.
That goal didn’t just settle the result; it cut through the malaise that had Bayern trudging through the second half. Shoulders loosened. Passes quickened. Osnabrück’s resistance finally cracked.
Kane closes it out, questions remain
In the 84th minute, Pavlović was brought down in the box and Bayern had a penalty. Kane stepped up with the air of a man clocking overtime, sent Krumrey the wrong way and made it 4-1. No fuss, no drama.
The closing minutes meandered to the final whistle. The scoreline flattered Bayern’s control more than their fluency. This was never going to be a classic, and the second half confirmed it: slow, anti-climactic, the kind of game that shows how early in the season it still is.
Yet the essentials are in place. Bayern are through. Kane is scoring. Olise is influencing games from multiple positions. Bischof has made a strong early case for more minutes. At the same time, the central defensive pairing of Tah and Kim clearly needs work, and the Davies–Brown duel at left-back remains wide open.
This won’t be remembered as one of Bayern’s great cup performances. It doesn’t need to be. The real intrigue lies ahead — starting with the weekend trip to face Schalke 04, where routine will no longer be enough.
