With only a couple of minutes remaining of time added-on, Fredrik Rönnow looked to his bench as Union had a final free-kick, 30 yards from the Bayern goal. That he had to ask if he should join the fray in the box only showed how his side were playing at that point; They were pushing so hard, and smartly for an equaliser, he had cause to wonder if they needed the extra man advantage.

The only two sides to have taken a chunk out of FC Bayern München this season were Arsenal and Union. And here on a turbulent, wonderful, raucous evening that saw the Alte Försterei at its best, the hosts couldn’t have come closer again. They were superb, particularly in the second half. Sadly, it just wasn’t to be.

At kick off, the scene was set. Though the pitch bore the marks and ragged scars of the long season so far, the lights shone bright over Köpenick. It was a fitting occasion for midweek cup-tie. But still it started with a moment of solidarity; the silent protest that has accompanied every game across the land for the last weeks.

Bayern tried to start on the front foot. Michael Olise cut in from the left, but his shot was easily held by Rönnow in the Union goal; the eerie, awkward atmosphere punctuated by cheers as Andras Schäfer robbed Harry Kane from behind in the middle. But the guests were quickly hemmed back, and Manuel Neuer saw more of the ball in the first five minutes than many of his teammates, and he received a stream of back passes as Union pressed high and hard.

The excellent captain on the night, Rani Khedira, the scorer in Union’s last two games, was a case in point, and he was a whisker away from getting onto the end of Wooyeong Jeong’s neat little ball into the box after only five minutes.

Union knew that set-pieces would be key, (though they were to find out that this would be the case for their opponents, too) and Tom Rothe flashed a volley over, the ultimate result of  a long throw, flicked along by Ilyas Ansah. Khedira tackled Joshua Kimmich on the edge of the Bayern box and found Ansah, whose shot was saved by Neuer, having taken the slightest of deflections the keepers way on its path.

Bayern, stung by their last-minute draw last time around, however, were already promising more than they did a fortnight ago, and they took the lead as Kimmich’s deep corner bounced unfortunately off Ansah and into his own goal, just before the silence broke. Rönnow had come out swinging but couldn’t reach a ball that dropped dangerously towards Kane, loitering near the back post. Ansah was helpless.

With the wall of noise, and a spectacular choreo – timed in three parts to perfection, red, yellow and white thirds of the Waldseite reflecting the F-C-U chant - now at their backs, Union countered; Khedira, Rothe and Ansah going toe-to-toe with Kimmich, Dayot Upamecano and Josip Stanisic near Bayern’s right-hand corner flag.

Aljoscha Kemlein smashed a 25-yard volley just over with 20 minutes played, getting his head over the ball, but unable to keep it down.

But Bayern got their second on 24 minutes, again from a corner. From the same side, Pavlovic whipped it in this time to where Harry Kane headed it solidly towards goal. Though Rothe got to the ball, leaping, throwing his imposing figure skywards, he couldn’t do any more than knock it up onto the bar, from where it bounced down and in.

Bayern were now in control, and Kemlein did well to win a throw when suddenly surrounded by three men in black; as did Jeong, taking a forwards pass and a step forwards, before losing his man by throwing the brakes on suddenly. When Lennart Karl got a sniff in the middle at the other end, Diogo Leite was there immediately to stop him in his tracks, as was Querfeld when the ball appeared at Luis Diaz’s feet on the edge  of the box.

Union fought on, however, and they were to be given a lifeline. Eventually. Jonathan Tah seemed to brush the ball with his hand after Haberer’s throw and Doekhi’s flick on. Though Khedira and Doekhi were certain it should have been a penalty, the referee, Martin Petersen, ignored their pleas and Bayern played on.

Kane had the ball in the net almost immediately, though he’d strayed offside before nudging the ball past Rönnow. But as Kimmich raged at the referee things were to take a curious twist. After visiting the video screen Petersen gave the spot-kick at the other end. Union had a penalty.

The fans rubbed their eyes, but Querfeld wasn’t to miss this chance, beating Neuer as he struck the ball hard, but with consummate control, past him into the net.

Union were back in the game, and Rothe shot just over after more excellent work by Jeong with the break now looming. Ansah then won a free kick, right on the corner of the box, fouled by Olise. Haberer clipped it in, but Leite could only flick his header wide of the back post.

Hell was about to break out. As Jeong lay prone in the centre circle, Bayern played around him, the chorus of boos and jeers reaching boiling point as Olise went over after a nudge from Kemlein. He took the free kick, himself, where a flying Leite flicked it past a sprawling Rönnow for Union’s second own goal of the night. It had been the cruellest of ways to end the half.

Union came out for the second half unchanged, and with the sight of Jeong immediately upended by Upamecano in the box. Play carried on, only for Pavlovic to go down in the middle, and have to be taken off, replaced by Leon Goretzka.

He caught Schäfer soon afterwards, leading to a Haberer free kick that saw Leite floored by Kane. Again, the referee pointed to the spot. Again, the players all crowded around. Again, the wait was endless as Kane – and then coach, Vincent Kompany - got booked for complaining.

And, again, Querfeld stood up as all this went on, waiting to take the spot kick, the last cool man left in the building. This time he staggered his  run, sending the dancing Neuer the wrong way, slotting it home to the keeper’s right.

Ansah looked reborn up front, bustling and jostling and sprinting with the ball at his toe, and Jeong’s pass to him as he entered the box was only an inch too far ahead of the striker. Schäfer, too, picked up a loose pass and set the excellent Jeong away; the ball eventually coming back to Schäfer, then Kemlein, who chose to hit it 50 yards back  to Rönnow than run the risk of turning into trouble .

Only an hour had gone, and it felt like a day as Rönnow flung himself at full stretch to tip Kane’s shot around the base of his post. The crowd was now deafening, with every tackle won, every throw-in, every hint of an opening for the hosts. When Konrad Laimer crashed into Jeong as he tried to break, he tore away in rage; the usually unflappable Bayern were looking like they might lose their heads.

Union were superb by now to a man. Schäfer drew a fantastic stop from Neuer, driving from 30 yards with his left. Jeong bent one past the top corner having been played in by Kemlein. Khedira hit the byline and squared for Ansah, but his shot, too, flashed just wide of the near post.

Leite cleared Diaz’s shot off the line, with Rönnow already beaten, before at the other end Janik Haberer hit the post. Diaz then had the ball in the net but was offside. Ansah then drew another fine stop from Neuer after Schäfer’s gorgeous little back-heeled, return ball played him in. 

There were individual battles all over the pitch. For Doekhi and Kane, now read Upamecano and Ansah as the former dragged the latter down, heading back, step by lengthy step towards the Bayern goal. Petersen ignored it, choosing instead to give a foul for the Bayern player a second later - to Ansah’s utter disbelief. Upamecano got booked three minutes later for tripping Ansah as he broke again.

With seven minutes remaining, Baumgart finally made his first changes, taking off  Jeong and Schäfer for Tim Skarke and, making his competitive debut, Livan Burcu. They were joined by the next debutant in Stanley Nsoki with three minutes to play, on for Rothe, but only after Skarke had immediately made an impact, crossing for the soon to  depart full-back, who met his header with near perfection, but, still, agonisingly wide.

There were six minutes added on, and Neuer got booked almost as soon as he board was held aloft for timewasting. It was a measure of the torrents of pressure they were under as when Burcu caught Hiroki Ito, he rolled back onto the pitch, dragging out the vital seconds.

Then came Haberer’s final free kick, and Rönnow’s appearance in the box. Having been granted permission, Rönnow was now up when Haberer took the  final free kick, but for all they threw at Bayern in the final moments, it wasn’t enough.

The players circled the pitch after the final whistle, their heads held high. They were beaten but never cowed. They had given as good as they got.

‘We played well, but conceded three annoying goals from set pieces. That shouldn't happen to us, but our reaction afterwards was very good. In the end, we were closer to equalising than Bayern were to sealing the win, and that's exactly what we can take with us into the next games." 

"It's extremely bitter that Bayern are through in the end. Of course, we gave everything and threw everything into it until the last second. A big compliment to our team for that. On one or two occasions, we were really just a few centimetres away from equalising and taking the game into extra time, so we're naturally disappointed." 

"What we did particularly well today was that we always remained clear-headed despite the setbacks and continued to believe in ourselves. That allowed us to fight our way back into the game time and again, and today we had a cup evening where two teams gave everything to advance. In the end, it wasn't quite enough to take that big step, which is obviously frustrating today."