Klose Leads Bayern to his 6th title of Lega Pokal

Schalke 0 Bayern 1
Klose fires Reds to first trophy of term



Bayern defeated Schalke 1-0 in Leipzig on Saturday to claim the curtain-raising DFL League Cup for the sixth time in their history.

A 43,500 full house at the Zentralstadion in Leipzig saw both sides make a cagey start, before Bayern upped the tempo midway through the first half and took the lead on 29 minutes when Miroslav Klose capitalised on a defensive mix-up.

Hamit Altintop rattled the crossbar twenty minutes from time as the game picked up pace and competitiveness in the second half, but the Munich side expertly marshalled by the outstanding Ze Roberto always looked in command and duly ran down time to collect the trophy and the €2 million prize money.

Depleted line-up

With star names Mark van Bommel, Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger joining long-term casualties Luca Toni, Jan Schlaudraff, Lukas Podolski, Willy Sagnol and Valerien Ismael on the sidelines, coach Ottmar Hitzfeld’s starting line-up showed no fewer than six changes to the side which defeated Stuttgart in Wednesday’s semi-final.

The Bavarians again lined up in a 4-5-1 formation, Klose taking over from young Sandro Wagner as the lone striker and Oliver Kahn returning in goal after Michael Rensing’s midweek run-out. There was also a first competitive start for Argentine schemer Jose Ernesto Sosa on the right of midfield, with Andreas Ottl deputising for Van Bommel alongside Zé Roberto in the twin holding role.

Cautious opening

Both sides spent the first quarter of an hour feeling each other out, although Munich landed the first metaphorical blow of the encounter when new signing Hamit Altintop came away the winner of his first on-field skirmish with twin brother Halil of Schalke.

Croatian newcomer Ivan Rakitic delivered the Royal Blues’ first shot on goal from a 25-yard free-kick, but Kahn served up the first highlight of the evening with a fine diving save.

That appeared to jolt Bayern into action, and Ze Roberto came within a whisker of handing his side the lead from a beautifully struck free-kick midway through the half.

Miro’s nose for goal

Ze turned provider after 28 minutes with a superb through ball for Sosa, but the midfielder mis-hit his drive, Klose proving unable to reach the inadvertent lay-off. But just a minute later, Lucio’s long punt downfield prompted a moment’s misunderstanding between Serbia centre-back Mladen Krstajic and keeper Manuel Neuer, allowing the Bayern striker to hook a toe under the ball and loop a lob over the Schalke shot-stopper into the empty net.

The Reds capably protected their lead through to half-time, and started the second period fluently with Christian Lell and Altintop firing narrowly wide of the target. Schalke briefly blossomed around the hour mark, but Kahn again pulled out a great stop to deny Germany hitman Kevin Kuranyi’s first time effort.

Deserved win

Bayern should have made the game safe after 69 minutes when Klose scurried clear of Rafinha and served up a golden opportunity for Altintop, but the Reds’ Turkey star walloped his effort against the bar with only Neuer to beat.

In the closing stages, the Bavarians concentrated on neutralising their opponents’ attempts to strike on the break and even found time for attacking efforts of their own, but Neuer denied Martin Demichelis and Altintop and Philipp Lahm fired narrowly over the bar as the Reds completed an ultimately deserved victory.


Schalke 04 - Bayern Munich 0-1 (H-T: 0-1)

Schalke 04:

Neuer – Rafinha (Westermann 75), Bordon, Krstajic, Pander - Ernst, Kobiashvili – Rakitic (Azaouagh 66), Halil Altintop, Lövenkrands (Asamoah 58) – Kuranyi

Bayern Munich:

Kahn - Lahm, Lucio, Demichelis, Jansen - Ottl, Zé Roberto – Lell (Dos Santos 75), Hamit Altintop, Sosa – Klose (Wagner 90)

Referee:

Florian Meyer (Burgdorf)

Spectators:

43,500 (capacity, in Leipzig)

Goals:

0-1 Klose (29)

Yellow Cards:

Kristajic, Halil Altintop, Kobiashvili, Asamoah / Lucio, Zé Roberto