Bayer Leverkusen is losing ground in the title race – Borussia Mönchengladbach wrestles a draw from the leaders

The Bayer Leverkusen professionals sank onto the grass, some of them hid their faces behind their jerseys, and coach Xabi Alonso frowned.

The last-minute experts had once again tried everything, but this time the ball didn’t fall into the goal. The final whistle was followed by disappointment: the final score was 0-0 against Borussia Mönchengladbach. And suddenly FC Bayern is very close again.

“Next time we’ll clean things up,” said Bayer’s sports director Simon Rolfes on “Sky”, that would be the simplest solution: “When a team is as low as Gladbach, then you have to take advantage of the opportunities with the utmost determination. That’s what you have “There was a little bit missing, it was always a few centimeters.”

The final score was 27:4 shots on goal, but all the superiority was in vain, completely different than last time: Bayer scored very late to win at FC Augsburg (1:0) and at RB Leipzig (3:2). The lead over Bayern Munich, who beat FC Augsburg 3-2 in the afternoon, has now shrunk to just two points two weeks before the direct duel. Gladbach is in twelfth place in the table with 21 points after 19 games.

At Bayer, substitute goalkeeper Matej Kovar surprisingly made his Bundesliga debut. The Czech, who has so far only played in the DFB Cup and the Europa League, also displaced captain Lukas Hradecky in the league for the first time. Alonso spoke of “healthy competition” and match practice with a view to the cup quarter-finals on February 6th against VfB Stuttgart.

Leverkusen’s superiority was overwhelming at the start of the game in front of 30,210 spectators. After just under 15 minutes, the favorites had over 85 percent possession of the ball and played 228 passes – the guests, in comparison, only 35. Amiri (5th), Jonas Hofmann (18th) and Florian Wirtz (19th) narrowly missed the early lead.

Kovar, who came from Manchester United before the season, had to grab the ball for the first time in the 22nd minute after a shot from Luca Netz. In the immediate counterattack, Wirtz failed again after a fantastic combination due to the brilliant support of Foal Moritz Nicolas.

Driven by ex-Bayer coach Seoane, Borussia got into the game a little better – and repeatedly launched attacks to relieve the pressure. Kovar began to have difficulties with Manu Kone’s long-range shot (32′), but otherwise the 23-year-old had a quiet evening.

For only the third time this season, Bayer went into the break 0-0 – and also missed the best opportunities after the break. Jeremie Frimpong failed to hit the ball correctly twice (57th/59th), Neuhaus also stopped the running winger with a strong tackle (60th).