For the first time in almost twelve years, FC Bayern has to host a reigning German champion at the Allianz Arena. History repeats itself. But will they be able to repel Leverkusen’s attack? They are holed up in Munich. Maybe they don’t want to attack at all?
Maybe it helps to imagine the Bundesliga as a gray mouse. One that would love to shimmer in all colors and that will never shine as brightly as the English billion-dollar league or probably the Spanish LaLiga with the giants Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The Bundesliga is the super club FC Bayern Munich, it is the Yellow Wall in Dortmund and there are many supplier clubs. Most of them leave no trace.
This order was turned upside down last season by Bayer Leverkusen, who not only became German champions but also went through the season unbeaten under their sensational coach Xabi Alonso. Although “walked” was perhaps not the right word for these last-minute heroes from the Bayer Kreuz. Now on the fifth matchday of the 2024/2025 season, FC Bayern was able to restore normality in the Bundesliga.
The champions, who had not been unbeatable since the 2:3 against RB Leipzig at the end of August, had arrived during the Oktoberfest and so it happened that Bayern actually corresponded to the general idea of the Bundesliga and pounced on the reigning champions in a mouse-gray special jersey. He was on the ropes early on but held on. Leverkusen managed a 1-1 draw over time.
Leverkusen plays for time from minute one
Only nine minutes had been played that evening in Munich’s Allianz Arena when referee Felix Zwayer rushed to Lukas Hradecky. The Finn in the German champions’ goal had once again looked at the ball too closely before a goal kick, giving his team a break from the constant pressure from FC Bayern Munich. Zwayer wasn’t so amused. He left it at a warning.
The previous season’s dominant champions were pushed deep into their own half by the hosts. They could hardly breathe. They entrenched themselves in the penalty area, while FC Bayern won the balls in midfield with Joshua Kimmich and let Michael Olise sail them into the penalty area smoothly but with too little precision. He didn’t find Harry Kane. The Englishman did not take place. For the first time since moving to the Bundesliga, he remained completely without a qualification.
Olise, on the other hand, showed once again why he is one of the players of the season so far. Everything seemed to be going as it always did in a top game at the Allianz Arena until the 2023/2024 season. The challenger comes, is amazed and receives a harsh slap at the end. In more than 200 countries they shook their heads.
This time too? The whole world wanted to know. Bayer Leverkusen a top Bundesliga team to be taken seriously in the next few years? Or the cozy boredom in Germany again? Last year was exciting enough. The Allianz Arena in Munich could have been sold out several times and everyone else was hot. Finally a new challenger after BVB had rarely been more than a laughingstock in the games marketed worldwide as the “German Clascio”.
Master traumatized by defensive weakness
The viewers at the receivers got their money’s worth early on. The ones in Munich initially not so much. The champions’ lead through Robert Andrich (30′) was not evident in this game, which was so dominantly led by Bayern. Bayern midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic mishandled a ball for an unnecessary corner in the 30th minute. Then suddenly he was in the goal. Andrich’s dry shot from the penalty area, assisted by Granit Xhaka, landed in the left corner. Manuel Neuer was not happy. “You can’t defend everything,” he said after the game and didn’t want to blame Pavlovic for the goal. “A completely normal mistake. He is not responsible for the goal.”
After the wild 4-3 win against VfL Wolfsburg, Alonso made five substitutions and was also the goalscorer. The defense, which was the showpiece last year, worried him. Leverkusen had already conceded nine goals before the game. The master as a shooting gallery? The goals against Wolfsburg almost traumatized Leverkusen. “We wanted to be compact today,” said Xhaka after the game. The Swiss was angry after last week’s victory and wanted a more defensive approach. That’s why Andrich. “Against Bayern you need someone who knows the word fight,” said Xhaka.
The fact that Andrich’s shots continue to cause danger was a welcome bonus for Leverkusen. Andrich commented on the goal objectively. “Xhaka doesn’t pass it perfectly. I hit it perfectly,” he said. Alone: The one-time perfection was not enough. Because at the back he revealed an unusual weakness. Even if he didn’t want to know anything about it.
Gnabry hits the aluminum
Pavlovic, who was again given preference over 50 million euro man Joao Palinha, didn’t care much about his mistake before the 0-1 score. He responded with a dream goal (39th). The national player received the ball with his chest 25 meters in front of the goal and finished with perfect posture. Hradecky got to the ball, but despite everything it hit the top right. And who was late to put up a block? Andrich of all people! “I can’t behead him even if I’m standing right,” he said.
Bayern were now on track. They had so much more possession that Leverkusen had less possession than ever before under Alonso. But they were also incredibly unlucky when Serge Gnabry, aiming from the left after a wonderful assist from Harry Kane, placed the ball at the far post in the 48th minute and then hit the crossbar seconds later. Hradecky was amazed as he lay on the ground. He hadn’t seen anything like that before.
The team of coach Vincent Kompany, who developed from a one-hour solution to an amazing character within just a few weeks, continued to be dominant afterwards. They were hungry for the redeeming goal. But Leverkusen stayed awake. “We only allowed something to happen when we were sleeping,” said Andrich.
Is Wirtz the new idol?
The last time FC Bayern hosted a reigning German champion at the Allianz Arena was on December 1, 2012. The 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund after goals from Toni Kroos and Mario Götze was just the precursor to what would happen at the end of the 2012/2013 season, first in the transfer market and then at Wembley.
First the record champions turned the head of future World Cup hero Götze and lured him away from his foster father Jürgen Klopp, as the current Frankfurt player had confessed with remarkable openness just this week, then Bayern struck back in the German final in London. Borussia Dortmund never really recovered from that. Although they continue to be among the national and sometimes international leaders, they have since moved from upheaval to upheaval.
Is that also Leverkusen’s fate? Do they establish themselves at the forefront or do they disappear completely? The future is still wide open. And of course FC Bayern, who were humiliated last year, also want to manipulate them.
This is why FC Bayern had already approached Jonathan Tah in the summer. It wasn’t really that interesting after all. But the unrest was carried to Leverkusen. It was such that at some point Bayer boss Fernando Carro lost his decency and attacked Bavaria’s new powerful man, Max Eberl. The real goal of the record champions is Florian Wirtz, the new idol, if you will.
But times have changed. The gap has also widened internationally. There is Real Madrid and there are the English Premier League giants. Nothing happens for a long time after that. These are the clubs that make world footballers. Nothing like that happens in the Bundesliga. The Bundesliga is gray. However, that must be the goal of Wirtz and also Bayern’s “player of the century” Jamal Musiala. As much as FC Bayern would like to have a Wusiala midfield, this seems unlikely this autumn 2024. “They are two great players,” Eberl commented after the game. He didn’t want to say anything more about it.
Eberl happy with Bayern’s football
FC Bayern’s desire is very understandable. Musiala, who was recently criticized by Didi Hamann for his dribbling, did what makes him so unique and dribbled past his opponent again this Saturday. He tricked his way past the Leverkusen team, turned and in the first half could often only be stopped by fouls. He subsided in the second half with the rest of the game.
Wirtz, on the other hand, was unable to excel against Leverkusen, who were so defensively oriented. FC Bayern pressed before the national player could even get to the ball. The only time he was noticed was a yellow card (57′) for a very high leg. Little happened after that. Bayern controlled the game, Leverkusen was on the ropes but didn’t fall. Even when Thomas Müller, who came on for the ailing Harry Kane, fell in the Leverkusen penalty area seconds after his substitution (87th).
The 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena was far from a top-class international game. It wasn’t a game that will be remembered for years to come. But that’s exactly what Bayer Leverkusen should be worried about. Because that’s how things started with Borussia Dortmund on December 1st, 2012. They never became champions again. Unlike Leverkusen, however, they were already behind at that time. But Bayern claimed victory for themselves. “We made an exclamation mark in the way we played football,” said Eberl. In any case, they don’t want to make the biggest exclamation point until the very end of the season “in crunch time”. Then the final of the Champions League will be played in the Allianz Arena. Maybe against Bayer Leverkusen. Then the Bundesliga would no longer be a gray mouse.
