VfL Bochum 4-2 Bayern Munich
(Antwi-Adjei 14', Locadia pen 38', Gamboa 40', Holtmann 44' – Lewandowski 9', 75')
Ruhrstadion

Newly promoted VfL Bochum celebrated a famous victory over Bayern Munich — only their second this century and their first since February 2004.

Robert Lewandowski gave Bayern an early lead at the Ruhrstadion, but a Christopher Antwi-Adjei equalizer, a Jürgen Locadia penalty, and stunning strikes from Cristian Gamboa and Gerrit Holtmann saw Bochum 4-1 up at halftime.

The scoreline conjured memories of the Bundesliga's "match of the century" in September 1976, when Bochum led 4-0 in this fixture after 53 minutes, only for Bayern to come storming back to win 6-5 thanks to goals from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Georg Schwarzenbeck, Gerd Müller (2) and Uli Hoeness (2).

But, 46 years later, there was to be no repeat. Lewandowski gave Bayern hope and also hit the crossbar, but Bochum held on for a sensational win. Sensational because, by the logic of the Bundesliga in 2022, such a result simply shouldn't be possible.

Imbalance of power

Ahead of the goalfest in 1976, Bayern had lost in two previous visits to the Castroper Strasse and wouldn't win any of their next three games against Bochum. It was a decade in which they 'only' won three Bundesliga titles and didn't even make the top four on four occasions. A different world.

Nowadays, the imbalance of power in German football is such that Joshua Kimmich could bemoan Bayern's "worst performance of the season" but console himself with: "Luckily, this was only the Bundesliga where we had a nine-point lead." The 27-year-old knows that the defeat won't stop Bayern's inexorable march toward a 10th consecutive title.

Hence the debate earlier in the week over potential changes to the format of German football's top flight, including suggestions for end-of-season playoffs to breathe new life into the title race.

"I find it exciting to think about new formats such as playoffs for the Bundesliga," Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn said, responding to a survey by Kicker magazine that itself followed comments by new German Football League (DFL) boss Donata Hopfen about how to boost the attractiveness of the league.

"A Bundesliga format with semifinals and a final would mean more excitement for the fans," Kahn said. "It makes sense to play with such thoughts. We at Bayern Munich are always open to new ideas."

His Borussia Dortmund counterpart, Hans-Joachim Watzke, said: "I've never been a friend of the playoffs idea, but, given the general situation, there shouldn't be any ban on thinking about different formats."

Other respondents to the survey from across the league were less enthused, including Bochum's director of football, Sebastian Schindzielorz, who said: "[We] understand football as the people's game, how it was and how it ought to be."

New format or financial redistribution?

The debate, sharpened by comparisons with American Football amid buildup the Super Bowl and the NFL's announcement that Munich and Frankfurt will host regular season games over the next four years, has split German football.

While Kicker's Thiemo Müller argued that "playoffs would unleash new emotions, as well as fresh marketing potential," the magazine's editor-in-chief, Jörg Jakob, responded that the Bundesliga doesn't need "cosmetic surgery."

"The problem of boredom at the top cannot be solved by playoffs or split seasons," he wrote, advocating instead for "a more equal distribution of broadcast revenues and Champions League money."

This year, while Bochum and fellow Bundesliga minnows Greuther Fürth and Arminia Bielefeld will receive about €30-35 million ($34-40 million) from the DFL's current TV deal, Bayern as champions will receive over €88 million — plus an additional €125 million or more from UEFA, depending on their progress in the Champions League, plus their own commercial revenue from sponsorship deals such as that with Qatar Airways
.

The idea of financial redistribution was a key element in a series of proposals for reform submitted to the German Football Association (DFB) by German fan groups earlier in the pandemic. The continued absence of those organized fans from German stadiums has only heightened concerns over the Bundesliga's attractiveness, bereft as it is of one its unique selling points: its vibrant fan culture.

That at least has been less of a problem in Bochum, where a passionate home support has created a raucous atmosphere at the Ruhrstadion on more than one occasion this season, even without the hard-core ultras. A 1-1 draw against local rivals Dortmund was loud enough, and the place was rocking even more against Bayern on Saturday.

It was a result which defied all logic, and which epitomized exactly why the Bundesliga finds itself at a crossroads.

Edited by: Michael Da Silva