FC Bayern Munich lost their lead to Borussia Dortmund on matchday 25 of the Bundesliga. The day after BVB’s 6-1 win against 1. FC Köln, a disappointing team coached by Julian Nagelsmann lost Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 (1-0).
Bayer Leverkusen – FC Bayern Munich: The analysis
Nagelsmann made two changes to his starting eleven compared to the 5-3 win over FC Augsburg: Thomas Müller and Leon Goretzka started in place of Serge Gnabry and the slightly injured Jamal Musiala. Tactically, FC Bayern used a 5-3-2 system when the opponents had possession and a 3-1-4-2 system when they had possession.
The initial phase belonged to the hosts: Leverkusen attacked very high at times and soon had the first chances to score, but Bayern keeper Yann Sommer defused them. At Leverkusen, a lot went through the nimble right winger Jeremie Frimpong.
FC Bayern, on the other hand, presented themselves flawed and unimaginative in the build-up game, the wingers João Cancelo and Alphonso Davies, which are so important in this system, hardly set any offensive accents. Nagelsmann gestured desperately in the coaching zone. In the 21st minute, the coach asked Joshua Kimmich to the edge of the field for a brief chat, seconds later he of all people scored with a deflected shot to make it 1-0 for FC Bayern, which was completely undeserved.
Hardly anything changed in the game after that: Leverkusen continued to play boldly forward, FC Bayern continued to appear sluggish. At the break, the goal shot ratio was 6:1 for Leverkusen, and the hosts even had a little more ball possession.
Nagelsmann reacted to the weak performance with a triple change: Kingsley Coman, Musiala and Gnabry came on for Cancelo, Müller and Mané. Without a real striker on the pitch, FC Bayern’s offensive players were cast in the front line from then on. Although the Munich team played a little more accommodatingly, Exequiel Palacios gave Leverkusen a well-deserved equalizer from the penalty spot.
FC Bayern then stormed forward angrily, but a little headlessly, Leverkusen always had good counterattack opportunities. For the 2:1 lead, however, the hosts chose the same route as for the lead. FC Bayern, who were now under pressure, did not have any compelling chances of equalizing in the rest of the season. Matthijs de Ligt missed the best opportunity in the 90th + 5 with a header.
The star of the game: Amine Adli (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
With the two penalties won, Amine Adli became the match winner for the Werkself. In addition, he was a constant source of danger with his speed.
The flop of the match: Sadio Mané (FC Bayern)
The FC Bayern striker found no connection to his team’s game at all in the first half. Sadio Mané’s devastating numbers: eight touches, no shots on goal. Consequently, Nagelsmann replaced him at the break.
The referee: Tobias Stieler
Things got heated for the first time in the middle of the first half after an incident in FC Bayern’s penalty area: Kerem Demirbay caught Joshua Kimmich, who in turn slipped into Florian Wirtz. Tobias Stieler kept playing, a reasonable decision. When Benjamin Pavard came on against Amine Adli, Stieler initially wrongly decided on Schwalbe, but after seeing the repetition on the sidelines he revised his decision and rightly gave a penalty for Leverkusen. The same course happened about 20 minutes later with Dayot Upamecano’s tackle against Adli.
