Luis Diaz Has Two Goals Ruled Out but Still Shines in Bayern's 2-2 Draw with Augsburg

Eight seconds. That's how long it took Augsburg to go up on the scoreboard, capitalizing on a mistake by Manuel Neuer. It was a nightmare start for Bayern Munich, who ended up settling for a 2-2 draw in which Luis Diaz was the standout performer, even if the stat sheet doesn't show it.

The Colombian had just been left off the squad during the FIFA international break, a call from Lorenzo meant to let him get back to his best form. He returned to the starting eleven against Augsburg and ran into a demanding match from the first minute, the kind that gets decided by the smallest details.

In the first half, Bayern never found their rhythm. It wasn't until the second half that the Bavarians started to push, and that's when Lucho made his presence felt. In the 50th minute, after a free kick that the home defense cleared away, a second phase of the play saw Diaz finish with a scissor kick that beat the opposing keeper. Goal, celebration, Augsburg getting ready to restart from midfield... and then came the call from the VAR booth.

The review found that Stanisic had been offside at the start of the move, by just a matter of inches, and the goal was disallowed. It was the second goal taken away from Diaz in the match: earlier, he'd had another one ruled out, a rather unusual backheel finish, due to Davies being offside on the preceding cross.

The Controversy Left Behind

The referee's decision sparked debate in Germany. Former referee Patrick Ittrich argued the goal should have stood, saying the Augsburg player cleared the ball completely on his own, with no opponent challenging him for it, and that what followed was a fresh phase of play, unconnected to that earlier offside position.

"The offside was irrelevant in this case. The Augsburg player cleared the ball entirely on his own, with no opponent contesting the ball. After the clearance, a new situation developed, what's classically called a 'next play situation,' and the goal came from that. It should have counted, I think it was a very controversial decision"Patrick Ittrich

Vincent Kompany, who looked visibly frustrated on the bench when the goal was ruled out, chose not to dwell on the controversy when asked about it in his press conference.

"Offside is offside. We don't need to make things more complicated than they already are. In that moment I did feel like the two actions, the offside and the goal, weren't connected, but it was a day where everything came down to details and inches. Our fans celebrated six times but only two goals counted. It was an exciting match"Vincent Kompany

Meanwhile, the scoreboard kept changing. Shortly after Diaz's first disallowed goal, Saibari made it 1-1 with a fine finish. Augsburg went back ahead, but Bayern didn't let up and found the equalizer again through Brown.

Luis Diaz still had time for another standout contribution: he broke down the flank, whipped in a precise cross and found Gnabry, who had a clean shot but struck the post. In the end, despite Bayern's relentless pressure, the late winner never came and the match finished level.

The Colombian came off shortly before the final whistle, leaving a strong impression, especially for his performance in the second half. Bayern's attention now turns to the Champions League, the club's biggest goal this season and the unfinished business left over from last year's campaign.