Eberl criticises Kimmich following Frankfurt mistake

The Bayern boss did not hold back when addressing the midfielder’s late error against Frankfurt – though Kimmich himself saw things differently.

With Bayern leading 3-1 and fewer than five minutes remaining, the German champions appeared to be cruising towards another routine victory. However, an unnecessary mistake handed Frankfurt an unexpected lifeline.

Jonas Urbig played the ball to Kimmich inside his own penalty area, but the Germany international attempted to pass square across the box to Kim Min-jae rather than clearing his lines. Arnaud Kalimuendo anticipated the pass, intercepted, and slotted home to reduce the deficit to 3-2, setting up a nervy finale.

Max Eberl was visibly unimpressed when speaking after the match.

“We could have saved ourselves that. I know you want to solve a lot of things with skilful play, but this is a bit too much,”

He then continued:

“If the danger becomes too great, sometimes you have to extinguish it. Then you don’t have to put yourself in a difficult situation,” 

Eberl ultimately labelled the decision “harakiri,” making his frustration clear.

Kimmich, however, was reluctant to overreact. While admitting he could have managed the situation differently, the midfielder defended Bayern’s commitment to playing out from the back and rejected the idea of resorting to hopeful long balls.

“Then the opponents will press more and more. If they realize we can’t find the solutions and we’re just playing long balls, then it’s easier to play against us. Accordingly, we should maintain this DNA,”