Bayern under fire: Accusation of playing time in the cup thriller!

Bayern under fire: Accusation of playing time in the cup thriller!

An exciting evening in the DFB Cup led to a heated exchange between FC Bayern Munich and Union Berlin on December 4, 2025. The Munich team won 3-2 in the quarter-finals and are now in the semi-finals. But the victory was not without controversy: Union captain Rani Khedira expressed his dissatisfaction with Bayern's alleged time lag.

Khedira accused the German record champions of actively wasting time from the 45th minute onwards. In particular, the Union captain interpreted the substitution of Aleksandar Pavlovic, who had to leave the field with an injury to his left thigh in the 49th minute, as part of the time game. “This cannot be considered fair play,” he said, adding that the referees did not intervene despite repeated interruptions. During the game, FC Bayern took the lead in the first half with goals from Harry Kane and two own goals from Ilyas Ansah and Diogo Leite.

The gameplay

The game started brilliantly: Ansah scored an unfortunate shot into his own goal in the 12th minute, followed by Kane in the 24th minute and the second own goal shortly before the half-time whistle. However, Union Berlin fought back and reduced the deficit through Leopold Querfeld, who converted a hand penalty in the 40th minute and was able to convert another penalty in the 55th minute.

The second half was characterized by interruptions and the Bayern players kept coming and had to end up on the ground. In stoppage time, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer even saw a yellow card for time play, which only reinforced Khedira's allegations. Despite the heated argument about Bayern's style of play, he said he wished Pavlovic a speedy recovery and highlighted the fair aspects of the game.

Coming challenges

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany was convinced that Pavlovic's injury was not serious, but his exact availability for the upcoming games remains uncertain. But the joy of reaching the semi-finals outweighs the draw: the draw will take place next Sunday at 7:15 p.m.

However, the time game scandal casts a shadow over Bayern's victory. It remains to be seen whether these allegations will have consequences in the next rounds of the cup. Sport1 reports that FC Bayern should not rely on a lazy approach when evaluating the game if they want to remain on the road to success. The team has to pay even more attention to the criticism that is now being loudly voiced.

For all football fans, it remains to be seen how the situation surrounding the allegations will develop. FC Bayern showed in the game that they are a strong team, but the way they achieved victory could become a topic of discussion.

Further details and developments can be found at Kicker.

For a comprehensive analysis of the allegations, we recommend taking a look at the reporting from Picture and Sports1.