Bayer Leverkusen's top 5 wins against Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen meet for the 101st time in competitive action when Der Rekordmeister host the defending champions at the Allianz Arena on Matchday 5. Can Xabi Alonso’s men got one over the champions yet again?
bundesliga.com takes you through five of Die Werkself’s best wins over the Bavarian giants…
Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 Bayern Munich, 1996/97 Matchday 21
The head-to-head record is admittedly one-sided in favour of Bayern down the years with 60 wins to 20, and you have to go back to 1997 for Leverkusen’s most comprehensive victory as a team featuring Niko and Robert Kovac, Paulo Sergio and Jens Nowotny raced into a 3-0 half-time lead, with the Brazilian and later Bayern attacker opening the scoring inside just five minutes.
Christian Nerlinger and Mario Basler got two back for Bayern at the BayArena, before striker Markus Feldhoff – keeping the legendary Ulf Kirsten on the bench, alongside Claudio Reyna – struck twice in the closing minutes to bag a hat-trick and a famous 5-2 win for the then third-placed Werkself over the league leaders at the time.
Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 Bayern Munich, 2004/05 Matchday 3
The summer of 2004 had seen World Cup winner Lucio follow the path previously taken a few years earlier by Michael Ballack in making the move from Leverkusen to Munich, but there was little the Brazilian could do early in the 2004/05 season as a Werkself side spearheaded by Dimitar Berbatov and Franca ran riot at the BayArena.
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The Bulgarian got the scoring going in the first half before his Brazilian strike partner hit two in quick succession after the restart to take the game well beyond Bayern. Berbatov then bagged his brace and Leverkusen’s fourth with an hour gone. A Ballack goal six minutes from time meant nothing for his team on his return to his former home, with Ze Roberto and Robert Kovac making it four ex-Werkself players on the losing side that day against a Bayer team coached by former Bayern captain Klaus Augenthaler.
Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 Bayern Munich, 2008/09 DFB Cup quarter-final
A result that holds a place in Bayer folklore as it remains the only time they have ever beaten Germany’s most successful side in a cup competition. Construction work at the BayArena meant this quarter-final tie was actually played up the Rhine in Düsseldorf, but it didn’t negatively impact the hosts.
After a goalless first half, things burst into life as Leverkusen struck three times in the space of 16 minutes through Tranquillo Barnetta, Arturo Vidal and Patrick Helmes. Things suddenly got interesting when Bayern had pulled two back only four minutes later thanks to Lucio and Miroslav Klose. The inevitable late push came from the Bavarians but Leverkusen could finally breathe again when Stefan Kießling netted two minutes into added time to settle things. Another notable fact about that game in 2009 was that it was the last time Bayern lost a cup game away from home (excluding penalty shootouts) until the 5-0 defeat at Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2021.
Bayern Munich 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen, 2019/20 Matchday 13
Coming into Matchday 13 of 2019/20, it was difficult to know what Bayern we would see. Robert Lewandowski had scored on each of the first 11 matchdays, but the defending champions were in third place after Niko Kovac had been dismissed following a 5-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 10. Hansi Flick had come in and beaten both Borussia Dortmund and Fortuna Düsseldorf 4-0 in his first two Bundesliga fixtures as a head coach, plus 2-0 and 6-0 wins over Olympiacos and away at Red Star Belgrade respectively, with Lewandowski netting four in the latter.
Watch: Bayern 1-2 Leverkusen - highlights
However, a resurgent Bayern were no match on the day for Leon Bailey. The Jamaican winger produced two excellent finishes on the break to pounce on errors by the champions. The first with his weaker right foot put Die Werkself in front after only 10 minutes. Thomas Müller equalised on 34, but Bailey restored the advantage only seconds later with a well-placed finish across Manuel Neuer from the left. Lukas Hradecky produced a string of saves to deny the previously rampant Bavarians as Leverkusen inflicted a first defeat on Flick as Bayern boss and one of only two in all competitions under the current Germany coach in the 2019/20 campaign. It was also a first win in Munich for Leverkusen since 2012/13 by the same scoreline. As solace for Bayern, every time they have lost 2-1 at home to Die Werkself, they have gone on to win the treble that season.
Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 Bayern Munich, 2023/24 Matchday 22
Leverkusen and Bayern had already played out a thrilling 2-2 draw on Matchday 4 by the time they met five months later and, for one of the first times in meetings between the two teams, the North-Rhine Westphalia outfit were arguably favourites. After 20 games, they found themselves two points clear of the Bavarians at the top of the table while also not tasting defeat in any competition - a rare position for them to be in.
Watch: Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 Bayern Munich - highlights
What made Leverkusen's rise to the summit even more impressive was the fact that Bayern had registered more points after 20 matches than they had in any of the previous five seasons. This, therefore, was a true meeting between title rivals, and many expected it to be another close and tense affair. In reality, though, it proved to be anything but. The hosts were in front inside 18 minutes, ironically through Bayern loanee Josip Stanišić, and from that position of authority they never looked back.
Further goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong extended to the advantage and added extra gloss to the scoreline, but in truth, their opponents never looked like getting anything from the game. In fact, they were reduced to just one shot on target, while their xG tally stood at 0.27 - a club-low since records began in 2019/20. It was an incredibly display of superiority as they moved five points clear, and their ultimate maiden Meisterschale was almost an inevitability from then on.
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