Bayern Munich had a hard time breaking down Bayer Leverkusen's compact defence. - © Sebastian Widmann/Bundesliga

bundesliga

Bayer Leverkusen dig deep to defy Bayern Munich and take point

30.09.2024

Excitement right up until the end, Bayern Munich going all out, and Bayer Leverkusen making great sacrifices defensively: the summit meeting between the record and defending champions ended in a draw as Xabi Alonso's side adapted their game and deprived Vincent Kompany's men of some of their newly acquired strengths.

The reigning German champions against the record German champions – in Munich, during Oktoberfest: this is why they invented superlatives! The top-of-the-table clash between Bayern and Leverkusen began with the hosts looking strong. FCB were moving the ball around well, while Die Werkself were adopting an uncharacteristically deep position and ceding possession to Bayern. Alonso's team managed to deprive the home side of some extremely dangerous transition situations with some canny counter-pressing, but there was little to no relief for the title defenders as the hosts continued to push hard.

The game took place almost entirely in the Leverkusen half in the first 45 minutes, but Bayer won the decisive duels near the penalty area and smartly closed down the spaces for Kompany's team. As a result, there were no big chances. Then, out of nowhere, came the opener for the ‘Werkself’. Robert Andrich popped up on the edge of the area with a 109-km/h shot following a corner that Aleksandar Pavlović had brought about with an unnecessarily risky pass towards keeper Manuel Neuer.

Serge Gnabry after hitting the woodwork twice in quick succession. - DFL/GettyImages/Sebastian Widmann

Pavlović redeems himself with stunner

"We didn't really play that well with the ball," admitted scorer Andrich. But, according to the model soldier, this meant that things went that much better at the back: "Not giving an inch here in Munich – you've got to be able to do that first!" Leverkusen had conceded nine goals in four games before the clash at the Allianz Arena – partly due to careless defensive work. However, the Rhinelanders were laser focused for long spells in this Oktoberfest summit, and for the most part only allowed FCB to take shots from long range.

Prior to conceding the opening goal, Bayern had only taken six shots, none of which threatened Lukáš Hrádecký's goal. The side captained by the Finn, on the other hand, scored with their very first shot. However, FCB refused to let themselves be deterred and immediately reaped the rewards as Pavlović unleashed a stunning right-footed shot into the top right-hand corner from a full 25 metres out - also clocking over 100-km/h.

Leverkusen's style reminiscent of early days under Alonso

Bayern continued to produce fireworks in attack in the second half: after a magical cross from Harry Kane in the 49th minute, Serge Gnabry placed a left-footed volley against the right-hand post before thundering the rebound against the cross-bar with his right foot. Bayern continued to dominate the game, with Victor Boniface struggling to latch onto any of the long balls played forward to him. In addition, the home side were immediately onto Florian Wirtz whenever he took possession and did not allow the playmaker to get going at all. "We were clearly the better team today, and we should have won the game," admitted Bayern captain Manuel Neuer after the match.

Even though they only managed to relieve the pressure a little, the champions stood firm at the back and hardly allowed Bayern, who were dominating the game, to penetrate the dangerous areas. Kane, for example, did not take a single shot on goal - a first for the Englishman in the Bundesliga. Leverkusen, customarily a dangerous attacking side with a relentless drive to get forward, adapted their game specifically for this match in Munich: only with absolute compactness and tireless defnsive work can Vincent Kompany's side be beaten right now.

Aleksandar Pavlović scored a spectacular and well-deserved equaliser. - IMAGO/Heiko Becker

The 90 minutes in Munich were somewhat reminiscent of Alonso's early days with the ‘Werkself’. When he started off in Rhineland, Alonso tightened up his back line - somewhat at the expense of attacking power. However, this solid defensive base paved the way for a huge upturn in the side's overall quality - which ultimately culminated in the title this summer.

"We know that it's not good enough when you're conceding more than three goals every week. It's very difficult to play against Bayern in the Allianz Arena. We worked very well in defence. We wanted to be compact and concede very little," said leader Granit Xhaka, praising his team-mates, who were happy to accept this 1-1 draw: "If someone had told us before the game that we would get a point, we would have signed off on it straight away." Leverkusen's defensive approach was rewarded: Bayern were unable to overtake the Rhinelanders in the race for the title as a result of the draw.