Opinion top game against Leverkusen
This defeat leaves a deep mark on FC Bayern
As of: 08:58 a.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
FC Bayern clearly loses the top game in the Bundesliga against Bayer Leverkusen. It is also the defeat of Thomas Tuchel. The Munich coach’s ideas didn’t work. Now his club is threatened with a disaster.
This defeat is one of the bitterest for FC Bayern in recent years. Not just because of the result and the very explosive situation in the Bundesliga table. But because of the way the Munich team performed at the league summit.
The 0:3 (0:1) against Bayer Leverkusen was the ultimate humiliation for the German record champions. The game showed what Munich is currently lacking. And how superior Leverkusen is to them. Sometimes it was a class difference: here totally alert and cautious Leverkuseners, there largely unimaginative, frighteningly harmless and sometimes sleepy Bavarians. It had nothing to do with “Mia san Mia” at all. Bayern made far too many mistakes and lacked ease and enthusiasm.
The record champions’ performance on this memorable football evening was sobering. Bayern have to be there in such big, groundbreaking games – but they weren’t. Bayer led the way at times – and could have won even more. No wonder that disbelief could be seen on the faces of the players and those responsible at FC Bayern. Leverkusen succeeds in almost everything in this important phase of the season – Bayern do very, very little in such a key game.
Pure disappointment: Leroy Sané (r.) with Thomas Müller after the 0:3 against Leverkusen
Quelle: Getty Images/Leon Kuegeler
A performance like that in such a groundbreaking game is a red flag. And it has to give everyone in the club something to think about. After winning the top game, league leaders Leverkusen are five points ahead of Munich. Bayern no longer have the championship win in their own hands, they are threatened with a season without a title – given the demands of the world club, that would be catastrophic. In the form of Saturday evening, a triumph in the Champions League seems extremely unrealistic.
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After eleven championships in a row, Bayern are threatened with a changing of the guard in German football. Leverkusen deservedly won and haven’t lost a game after 21 matchdays. This team under coach Xabi Alonso can only stop itself. Given their attractive style of play, the team – with the outstanding Granit Xhaka at its core – deserved the championship title.
Sacha Boye is FC Bayern’s weak point
The 0:3 for Thomas Tuchel is particularly bitter. It is also his defeat. The Bayern coach risked a lot with his surprising formation and change in the basic order – and gained nothing. Putting winter signing Sacha Boye on the left side of defense on his starting eleven debut turned out to be a mistake; Boye’s defensive behavior before the 0-1 defeat was not worthy of this summit meeting. Some Bavarians were not up to Leverkusen’s pace.
Tuchel (once again) did without Thomas Müller, the world champion’s experience in big games. That didn’t pay off either. Bayern lacked leaders and structure in this top game. In the first half, Bayern didn’t win a corner and didn’t get a cross from the game. During the entire season they had fewer shots on goal (nine) than ever before in a competitive game under Tuchel. And that’s just a sample of many statistics that show how inferior they were that Saturday evening.
Functioning automatisms are hardly recognizable. Tuchel’s idea of mirroring Leverkusen and having them defend offensively was understandable, but the team was only able to implement it in individual phases of the game. Alonso’s decisions were more fruitful than Tuchel’s. And the Bayern team doesn’t make full use of its potential.
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Tuchel had said before the game that now was the time, the moment when his team had to take themselves to the next level, had to take the next step, had to put their cards on the table. This performance from Bayern was the opposite – a step backwards. It was far too little to pose a threat to Leverkusen. They were a long way from the “statement victory” they had hoped for.
It’s not just the coach who is responsible. Müller was right when he took the team to task in the “Sky” interview after the game and criticized the lack of courage and the wrong decisions made by professionals with international stature and a lot of experience.
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Honorary President Uli Hoeneß called for more consistency in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” that appeared on the day of the match. She is missing from Bayern, who play Lazio in the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday.
There are very turbulent days ahead at FC Bayern. A lot of things are likely to be called into question. This Saturday evening in Leverkusen hurts the club brutally. And is likely to leave deep traces.
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