The wheels have well and truly come off for Thomas Tuchel’s men of late, and that fragility was present again in the early stages as the hosts struck first in the 12th minute.
After Manuel Neuer had made a remarkable point-blank save to deny Lucas Holer, Christian Gunter left him with no chance, unleashing a first-time volley with his left foot which arrowed into the far corner of the net.
The Rekordmeister were struggling and fortunate not to fall further behind when Gunter and Vincenzo Grifo went close. Tuchel’s men showed their resilience though, weathering the storm to great effect and equalising before the break.
Brought into the starting lineup, Mathys Tel rewarded his manager with a moment of magic, sublimely curling an effort from the edge of the area beyond Noah Atubolu to leave the contest finely poised ahead of the second half.
The interval allowed Freiburg some respite from the pressure of Bayern’s growing momentum, and they immediately reminded the defending champions of their own threat when Maximilian Eggestein went close from the edge of the area.
The visitors were struggling to break through the Freiburg rearguard, but the mercurial talent of Jamal Musiala soon unlocked the door. The 21-year-old appeared to be crowded out by three home defenders in the box, but he showed remarkable poise and skill to go past them before curling the ball into the far corner.
Christian Streich’s men threw everything at getting back into the game, and they stunned Bayern in the 87th minute when Holer lashed home his first goal in seven games when a long throw fell to him in the box.
That knocked the wind from the visitors’ sails, and there wasn’t enough time to respond as their grip on the Meisterschale loosened once more. Leaders Bayer Leverkusen could move 10 points clear with victory in their game in hand with just 10 rounds of the season remaining.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
