League leaders Bayern Munich dropped to a 3-1 loss at Mainz 05 on Saturday, conceding all three goals in a span of 14 minutes to drop to second place in the Bundesliga, behind Borussia Dortmund, with five games left in the season.
The Bavarians, eliminated by Manchester City in the Champions League last eight on Wednesday, could not have imagined a worst afternoon after going 1-0 up courtesy of Sadio Mane’s 29th-minute header at the far post.
Bayern, chasing an 11th straight league crown, are on 59 points, one behind Dortmund, who crushed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 to take control of the title race.
Despite having more than 70% of possession for more than an hour, Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern, who have now won just two of their last seven matches under the former Mainz coach, could not carve out any more chances.
Bayern were punished for sloppy defending in the 65th after failing to clear the ball repeatedly and keeper Yann Sommer punched it straight onto the head of Ludovic Ajorque who only had to nod in for the equalizer.
Another defensive error by Josip Stanisic allowed Leandro Barreiro to slot home and put the hosts in front as the Bayern club bosses looked on in complete shock from the stands.
The hosts, however, were not done yet as Aaron Martin rifled in their third goal in the 79th to make it 10 games without defeat for Mainz, who are now sixth and in contention for a European spot.
The defeat piles more pressure on embattled sports director Hasan Salihamidzic and club CEO Oliver Kahn, who had been criticized for sacking Julian Nagelsmann in late March and bringing Tuchel.
They said at the time that Bayern’s season goals were at risk and they needed to act but in just over three weeks the Bavarians, under Tuchel, have been eliminated from all Cup competitions.
They now also risk missing out on the Bundesliga title after suffering a third defeat under Tuchel in seven matches. Nagelsmann was sacked having lost three times in 37 games this season.
