Bayern Munich suffered their first Bundesliga defeat since October 2012 on Saturday as their record 53-match unbeaten league run was ended by a 1-0 defeat at Augsburg.
Coach Pep Guardiola named a weakened team for the Bavarian derby and paid the price as Bayern were beaten for the first time in the German league since going down 2-1 at home to Bayer Leverkusen on October 28, 2012.
With one eye on Wednesday’s Champions League clash at home to Manchester United, Guardiola started with three teenagers, giving Bundesliga debuts to wing-backs Ylli Sallahi and Mitchell Weiser while Pierre-Emile Hoejbjerg was named on the left wing.
The gamble backfired when Weiser lost possession to Augsburg’s Daniel Baier who fed Sascha Moelders and the Augsburg striker blasted his shot past Bayern’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer with 31 minutes gone to claim the winning goal.
“Sooner or later we had to lose, we accept that and we have to prepare as quickly as possible for Manchester United,” said head coach Guardiola.
“Next Wednesday is a final for us. It’s a matter of life or death.”
It was the third game in succession Bayern have fallen behind and Guardiola responded by bringing stars Mario Goetze, David Alaba and Thomas Mueller off the bench.
Left-back Alaba hit the post with 68 minutes gone as Bayern pushed in vain for the goal to keep alive hopes of becoming the first team to go through a Bundesliga campaign undefeated.
Having lost 4-2 at Borussia Dortmund in July’s German Super Cup final and beaten 3-2 at home to Manchester City in the Champions League group stage last December, this was only Bayern’s third defeat of the season since Guardiola took charge in June.
Bayern were already confirmed Bundesliga champions ten days ago when they wrapped up the title with a record seven games to spare and they remain 20 points clear in the table.
Later, second-placed Borussia Dortmund earned a morale-boosting 2-1 win at home to Wolfsburg ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final, second-leg at home to Real Madrid.
After Croatia’s Ivica Olic gave Wolves an early lead, a Robert Lewandowski header put Dortmund level before Germany winger Marco Reus hit the 77th-minute winner.
Borussia face a near-impossible task of overturning a 3-0 defeat from the first leg against Real to reach the Champions League’s semi-finals.
“We showed an unbelievable mentality today,” enthused Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.
“We made life hard for ourselves before the break, but it’s often the case that you have to compensate for the missing punch with sheer willpower after a Champions League match.
“We changed our system and in the end we decided the match with our quality and pressure.”
Schalke are now three points adrift of Dortmund in third as they came from behind to claim a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen.
Bremen took the lead when Argentina striker Franco di Santo netted after 15 minutes before Schalke teenager Leon Goretzka levelled on 33 minutes.
At the other end of the table, Stuttgart improved their chances of avoiding relegation with a 2-0 win at home to Freiburg to escape the bottom three with goals by Romania’s Alexandru Maxim and Austria’s Martin Harnik.
Nurnberg drop into the bottom three after their 2-0 defeat at home to Borussia Monchengladbach, who moved up to fourth and into the Champions League places at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen.
A first-half free-kick by Venezuela’s Juan Arango and a late penalty from Max Kruse sealed the three points.
Earlier on Saturday, Leverkusen sacked coach Sami Hyypia in the wake of Friday’s 2-1 defeat at strugglers Hamburg which left them with just one win in their last 11 games and facing a battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The 40-year-old former Liverpool captain, who took on his first senior coaching role last August, has been replaced by Sascha Lewandowski, the head coach of Leverkusen’s junior side, who has five games to rescue their Champions League status.
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Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Guide to intelligent investing
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
If you go
The Flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Johannesburg from Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. Economy return tickets cost from Dh2,650, including taxes.
The trip
Worldwide Motorhoming Holidays (worldwidemotorhomingholidays.co.uk) operates fly-drive motorhome holidays in eight destinations, including South Africa. Its 14-day Kruger and the Battlefields itinerary starts from Dh17,500, including campgrounds, excursions, unit hire and flights. Bobo Campers has a range of RVs for hire, including the 4-berth Discoverer 4 from Dh600 per day.
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
