BERLIN: A below-strength Bayern Munich side conceded a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at Freiburg on Tuesday and move one point clear at the top as their perfect start to the Bundesliga season ended.
Freiburg substitute Nicolas Hoefler pounced at the far post to level the score in the 86th minute after Xherdan Shaqiri had fired the visitors ahead with a 33rd minute volley.
There was more bad news for Bayern as Bastian Schweinsteiger limped off 12 minutes from time with an ankle injury ahead of Friday’s UEFA Super Cup match against Chelsea in Prague.
The treble winners have 10 points from four games. Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Mainz 05, who all have nine points, are in action at the weekend. Freiburg have two points.
Bayern coach Pep Guardiola made seven changes to the team that beat Nuremberg 2-0 on Saturday for a match moved forward because of the showdown with Europa League winners Chelsea.
“I think we played very well today, we played forward and had a lot of chances,” Guardiola told reporters. “But when you lead 1-0 then this (an equaliser) can always happen. I’m still very proud of my players.
“Now we have two days to recover and play the (Super Cup) final as well as possible,” said the Spaniard.
The Bavarians controlled possession but were clearly lacking any spark with Arjen Robben, Philipp Lahm and Franck Ribery on the bench and Freiburg holding out well against them. (Reuters)