For the fourth time in a row, Bayern Munich failed to win a Bundesliga match against Bayer Leverkusen when they faced their currently fiercest rivals at Allianz Arena on Saturday.
Having gone down to Robert Andrich’s opener in the 31st minute, Vincent Kompany’s team needed a sublime strike from Aleksandar Pavlovic eight minutes later to draw level.
The teams
Seeking to dominate this match and impose control over the visitors, Kompany had Bayern playing in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation. With Manuel Neuer back in goal, Dayot Upamecano paired up with Kim Min-jae in the heart of defence, flanked by Raphael Guerreiro on the right and Alphonso Davies on the left. Pavlovic was picked ahead of summer signing Joao Palhinha to start alongside Joshua Kimmich in the middle of the park. Jamal Musiala, with Michael Olise on his right and Serge Gnabry on his left, supported Harry Kane up front.
Xabi Alonso, who led Leverkusen to their first-ever Bundesliga title in an unbeaten campaign last term, went in turn with his own usual formation, 3-4-2-1. Lucas Hradecky was in goal. Jonathan Tah was the central defensive figure, with Piero Hincapie and Edmond Tapsoba by his side. Andrich paired up with Granit Xhaka in midfield, while Jeremie Frimpong on the right and Alejandro Grimaldo on the left, covered the flanks down the whole length of the pitch. Florian Wirtz and Martin Terrier were tasked with creating and supporting the attacking talents of Victor Boniface.
The game
Playing in front of their own crowd at the Allianz Arena, Bayern expectedly dominated the contest for its largest parts, ending with 70% possession, and a total of 18 shots, compared to Leverkusen’s three. But the most influential statistical difference between the two sides, providing such control for the Bavarians, was the fact that their passing accuracy stood at 90%, whereas Leverkusen players managed to find their teammates with just 74% of their attempted passes.
Musiala continues to impress every week in a Bayern shirt, confirming his status as one of the hottest prospects of world football at the moment. In the opening stages of the game, he caused Leverkusen serious problems twice, dragging a shot from 20 yards just wide of the target, and then dancing past several opponents to force a foul from Tah just outside the box. Olise took the free-kick that time, leaving Hradecky rooted to the spot as the ‘keeper watched it fly inches from his top corner.
And yet, it took Leverkusen just one slightly promising situation to get ahead. A corner, taken from the left by Grimaldo, went through the box and found Xhaka on the other end. The former Arsenal man simply laid it off for Andrich to shoot, and the shot went bouncing through the forest of players on its route to the bottom corner, with Neuer unable to do anything about it. Andrich has been known to produce fine goals from range, and Kompany will likely look into the reasons for the Leverkusen being allowed enough space to shoot from there.
Two Bayern players rushed out to block a potential shot from Xhaka and took no notice of Andrich, and Musiala, who spotted the danger, wasn’t quick enough to block Andrich himself.
Nonetheless, Bayern quickly drew level. Olise’s in-swinging cross from the right was cleared by Tapsoba and the ball came to Pavlovic some 25 yards out. The 20-year-old midfielder controlled it with his chest, let it bounce once, and fired into the top corner. Even though Hradecky flew through the air at full stretch, and even got a hand to the ball, he couldn’t do enough to divert it over the bar. A superb strike by another young, incredibly talented German midfielder.
Bayern two great chances to turn the game completely around early in the second half. Three minutes from the restart, Kane found Gnabry with a lovely diagonal pass from right to left as the winger made his run into the box. Gnabry placed a well-controlled shot towards the far corner, beat Hradecky but only hit the post. He tried again from the rebound, but could only find the crossbar from a very tight angle. In the 58th minute, Olise was suddenly presented with a chance as a scramble inside the Leverkusen box ended in the ball dropping kindly for him at six yards. However, Hradecky was his team’s hero that time, rushing out to make a fantastic save.
The Bavarians continued attacking, but Leverkusen’s defending improved from that point on and it became more and more difficult to get the ball into the box. Therefore, Bayern started resorting to long-range efforts. Davies (twice) and Kimmich tried their luck and failed to hit the target. In the 78th minute, a well-worked free-kick enabled substitute Kingsley Coman to put a cross in from the left and as Upamecano headed across towards Kim on the edge of six yards, the Korean defender was under too much pressure to direct the ball goalwards.
Referee Felix Zwayer mostly did his job well, but it was shocking to see him wave away foul appeals from either side in the 83rd minute. Leverkusen substitute Amine Adli took the ball forward and as he released a pass towards Wirtz, he inadvertently clipped Kane’s foot, and the England captain consequently limped off to be replaced afterwards. But it was even more difficult to understand why the referee waved away Wirtz’s claim, after the Leverkusen playmaker took the ball around Laimer and the Bayern man deliberately tripped him just outside the box. There are very few fouls in football clearer than this one, and yet, for reasons probably known only to him, Zwayer refused to give it.
Nathan Tella, who had replaced Boniface earlier, had a chance to perhaps win it for the visitors in the 88th minute, but his shot from just inside the box was far too feeble to trouble Neuer. It was Laimer who made the last attempt to score a winner for Bayern, in the fourth of the five minutes of stoppage time, firing just wide of the target.
Tight at the top
It took Bayern five Bundesliga matches this season to finally fail to win one. Still, with four wins and a draw, they remain at the top of the table with 13 points, two more than second-place RB Leipzig who have drawn twice. Leverkusen are, of course, in the race to defend their title too, sitting third with 10 points, ahead of fourth-place Borussia Dortmund on mere goal-difference.
Round six could, in theory, see Leverkusen overtake both Leipzig and Bayern. Alonso’s men welcome bottom side Holstein Kiel to the BayArena, while Leipzig play away to Heidenheim, surprisingly in fifth place right now, and Bayern travel to Frankfurt to face Eintracht – never an easy trip for any team. Dortmund will go to the capital to clash with Union Berlin.
But before any of that happens, Bayern will travel to Birmingham to play against Aston Villa in the Champions League, while Leverkusen host AC Milan.
