2024-09-29 12:13:23
FC Bayern dominated against Leverkusen, but had to be content with a draw. In the final phase, the record champions experienced a moment of shock.
FC Bayern missed a home win in the Bundesliga top game against champions Leverkusen. In the sold-out Allianz Arena there was only a 1-1 (1-1) draw for the Munich team, who dominated almost the entire game. While Leverkusen defended deeply and waited for the counterattack, Bayern took control early on.
But it was the guest from Leverkusen who took the lead. Robert Andrich scored in the Munich goal in the 31st minute. Eight minutes later, Aleksandar Pavlović responded with a remarkable long-range shot into the top corner. Shortly before the end, Bayern experienced a moment of shock. Harry Kane had to leave the pitch limping. Leverkusen’s Amine Adli accidentally stepped on his ankle after a pass.
Sports director Max Eberl was also worried. “If Harry leaves the pitch, then it’s something,” he said on Sky. After looking at the pictures he said: “That doesn’t look good. Now I hope it’s sturdy – made of good English wood – and nothing is broken.”
There was a lot of activity not only on the pitch, but also on the sidelines. Coaches Vincent Kompany and Xabi Alonso were busy sorting out their teams and aligning them with the opponent’s plans. For Bayern, this meant preventing quick counterattacks; for Bayer, it meant falling into a 5-4-1 formation when Munich attacked. Even magic foot Florian Wirtz was almost exclusively entrusted with defensive tasks in Alonso’s tactical concept.
Bayern dominated the game with their high pressing and consistent backward defense, but they found it difficult to get close to the goal. Bayer extremely limited the space and weaved a tight net in front of their penalty area in which the Munich team regularly got caught – if they even got close to it. They often passed the ball back and forth far in front of the penalty area, lacking a brilliant thought.
Bayern’s best opportunity at first almost inevitably came from a set-piece situation: Michael Olise put a free kick on the net (22′). Before the game finally threatened to fall asleep, Leverkusen suddenly took the lead. After a corner caused by Pavlović, Andrich, who was lurking almost on the edge of the penalty area, hit the ball perfectly, his shot whizzed past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer into the far corner – it was Bayer’s seventh goal from a dead ball.
It took a Sunday shot on Saturday evening to bring Bayern back into the game: Pavlović was able to calmly accept a ball that had been deflected too short a good 23 meters from the goal, and with full stretch he chased it into the goal triangle. The national player benefited from the inaction of Victor Boniface, who could have intervened decisively in this situation.
Immediately after the break, Serge Gnabry could have turned the game around: After an assist from Harry Kane, who like Boniface was largely unregistered, he hit the post as he fell and then hit the crossbar with a follow-up shot (48th).
Olise was once again in a good position, but his shot from a tight angle was missed by Lukáš Hrádecký, who had very little to do – thanks to his diligently defending front men.