- Union boss Nenad Bjelica was shown the red card for his moment of madness
- The brawl occurred during Bayern’s slender 1-0 win at the Allianz Arena
- Come home, Harry! Bayern are struggling and Kane might be jealous of what Spurs are doing – It’s All Kicking Off
Bayern Munich and Union Berlin’s Bundesliga encounter descended into chaos on Wednesday after visiting boss Nenad Bjelica pushed Leroy Sane in the face, sparking a brawl between the two benches at pitchside.
With over 15 minutes left to play and Bayern in the lead, Sane and Bjelica came face to face by the side of the pitch at the Allianz Arena as the Bayern winger looked to retrieve the ball for a throw-in before the Croatian boss pulled the ball away from him.
Former Man City winger Sane had swiped his hand at the ball leading to the pair to square up to one another.
Then, in a moment of madness, the Union Berlin head coach inexplicably pushed Sane twice in the face, sparking a brawl pitchside between the two benches.
Eric Dier, who made his Bayern debut from the bench in the second half, was seen trying to keep the peace as both sets of players tried to break up Sane and Bjelica.
Bayern Munich star Leroy Sane is pushed in the face by Union Berlin boss Nenad Bjelica (left)
The Union Berlin boss lost his cool as he squared up to Sane before pushing him in the face
The resulting melee gave referee Frank Willenborg no other option than to send the Croatian manager off for violent conduct, while Sane received a yellow for his role in the incident.
The 52-year-old continued to argue his case as he made his way up to the stands and appeared to hit out at a number of Bayern supporters before being calmed down.
Speaking after the match, Bjelica said he understood why he was sent off and his behaviour ‘cannot be tolerated’ but refused to apologise to Sane.
‘I’m in my zone and want to give him the ball. He pushed me. Then of course I reacted,’ he said.
Asked whether he would apologise, he added: ‘Only to my team. It’s not tolerating it. Not with Sané. He comes towards me to provoke me. Of course I don’t react the way I should as a coach. There’s nothing to add.’
Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel offered a diplomatic response after the incident.
‘It’s not good,’ he said. ‘It’s hard to defend him. But I don’t want to say anything about it. I don’t need to add fuel to the fire.’
Sane and Bjelica squared up after the Bayern winger tried to retrieve the ball for a throw-in
Bjelica then proceeded to push Bayern’s No 10 in the face twice in a moment of madness
Referee Frank Willenborg shows the Croatian manager the red card for violent conduct
Bayern managed to see out the victory, winning the Bundesliga encounter 1-0 thanks to Raphael Guerreiro’s second-half strike.
It saw Thomas Tuchel’s side bounce back from last week’s home defeat by Werder Bremen and cut the gap to the top to four points.
The game had been postponed in December due to heavy snowfall in Munich at the time.
Bayern were eager to make amends for Sunday’s 1-0 defeat and the visitors had to soak up intense early pressure.
Raphael Guerreiro second-half strike was the only goal of the game with Bayern winning 1-0
Union keeper Frederik Ronnow managed to stop Matthijs de Ligt’s header and Dayot Upamecano’s rebound in the seventh minute before tipping wide Kingsley Coman’s low shot a little later.
Coman again went close to putting Bayern in front in the 23rd but his effort sailed just wide of the post with Bayern having close to 80 per cent possession in the first half.
Guerreiro then broke the deadlock seconds after the restart, drilling in on the rebound after Harry Kane’s shot had bounced off the post and into the Portuguese’s path.
Bayern move up to 44 points in second place, with Leverkusen leading the title race on 48.
