“Bayern,” Rudi Völler pointed out again shortly before kick-off, “lost the last game against Frankfurt. And they rarely lose twice in a row.” Völler, 61, is the managing director of sports at Bayer Leverkusen and has a great knowledge of football. Of course, he would have wished he was wrong for once. But he’s just so rarely wrong that he was right again this time. Just worse than he thought possible.
After 35 minutes the approximately 3,000 fans of FC Bayern Munich sang in the stadium to the Guantanamera melody: “You will never become German champions!” They might have sung that too, if it had been zero at the time. But it was 0: 4. The people of Munich were in a playful mood. The Leverkusen were in shock. In the end, Bayern won 5-1 (5-0). The top game in the Bundesliga wasn’t great. It was more of a shock – for Leverkusen and for the rest of the competition. When things get serious, Bayern also get serious. Very seriously.
At the press conference two days before the game, Leverkusen’s Swiss coach Gerardo Seoane was asked by a journalist from home how he assessed the latest development of the German national team. “We’re playing against Bayern Munich and not against the national team,” Seoane replied with demonstrative enthusiasm. But if you looked at the starting line-up of FC Bayern on Sunday, you naturally discovered seven of the best German national players, supplemented by the international defenders Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Hernández (both France) and Alphonso Davies (Canada) as well as the world footballer Robert Lewandowski ( Poland). The latter brought his team to the road of triumph early with the 1-0 after 181 seconds and the 2-0 in the 30th minute. The game looked like Germany against Andorra from the start.
In the second half, Munich took a more moderate approach
The football world was particularly excited about the Munich central defender Hernández. Everyone now knows that the 25-year-old has to appear in court in Madrid on Tuesday and that he faces a six-month prison sentence for violating legal requirements in his private sphere. Can you play football properly with such a sword of Damocles on your back? “Some people would certainly not feel like playing football in such a situation,” said Bayern’s CEO Oliver Kahn before the game, “but for some it can be a distraction – and I expect a top performance from Lucas.”
Hernández then didn’t have to call up this top performance at all. Leverkusen posed no danger whatsoever. His court appointment is likely to be more painful. After all: As a central defender, he was allowed to enjoy from behind, as Thomas Müller (34th) and Serge Gnabry (35th and 37th) increased to 5: 0 until the break. The Bayern fans didn’t really mock Leverkusen afterwards. There are Limits. They were sorry. You are not monsters.
The Bayern footballers can be inhuman in purely footballing terms. You then continue to play relentlessly. They do not shy away from humiliation of the enemy. In the second half, however, they took it more moderately. Even after the break, there was only a manageable resistance from Leverkusen. The game was lost. One wanted to pull oneself out of the affair halfway respectfully. They were looking for stability and the coach Seoane probably told them to try to win at least the second half net. Anyone who thought the hosts would start a dramatic comeback to save their honor was mistaken.
In the past six years, Leverkusen have only won twice against Bayern, both games in calendar year 2019. The Jamaican Leon Bailey, who then contributed three goals to 3-1 and 2-1, now plays for Aston Villa.
Ten minutes after the restart, the center forward Patrik Schick has eased the Leverkusen suffering a little. He scored the 1: 5. The remaining 35 minutes of the supposed top game resembled a friendly game. After a good hour, the coach Julian Nagelsmann took Müller and Lewandowski off the field. Bayern fans have long been singing about the “German champions Bayern Munich”. Probably nobody would contradict them on Sunday evening. Football Germany is now excited to see what the next alleged Bundesliga top game Bayern will have at Borussia Dortmund. The time will come on December 4th.