That this duel between the previous year’s Bundesliga bests FC Bayern and RB Leipzig would have what it takes to be appropriately entertaining on Saturday evening was already apparent before the kick-off. Because it already touched on the great story of JRR Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”. However, that had less to do with the martial tones of the responsible coaches Julian Nagelsmann and Domenico Tedesco. Rather, the question of whether the proximity of their two tactical schools could have something to do with the fact that they went to school together for prospective coaches in 2015/16. At the press conference before the game, Nagelsmann was worth a very detailed presentation when he asked why Tedesco passed his football teacher with a grade of 1.0, while he only got a 1.3.
To shorten the long story: On the first day of school, Nagelsmann deliberately walked into the classroom just before the gong. Because he wanted to be cool, not geek. What he had no idea: the cool ones had stormed into the room very early. To organize the coolest places – those at the back. So Nagelsmann, who came casually late, only had the space that was still free: right at the front with the nerds. The creation of this mean seating arrangement must have struck Nagelsmann as a paradox of coolness. And it had a serious impact on his free time during class. Because while the rascals from the last bank “watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy 44 times during class, I couldn’t even type anything into Google because my laptop was immediately closed,” Nagelsmann said.
On Saturday, between minutes 58 and 69, Tedesco, placed cooler in the course, may have remembered a special moment of the War of the Ring. The Munich players attacked the Leipzig players like the speaking trees attacked the tower of the magician Saruman in the second part of the trilogy. Only the invaders weren’t called “Treebeard” and “Buchenbein”, nor did they throw boulders, they were called Gnabry, Lewandowski and Sané – and they shot soccer balls from all positions.
now first. That was a special feature of this game between the table leader and table sixth in the Bundesliga. The fact that Leipzig had to admit defeat to Bayern – narrowly, 2: 3 (1: 2), that corresponded to the despicable result. But the fact that Tedesco’s team had stood up to Bayern for so long with a courageous and offensive approach was remarkable.
Thomas Müller says: “Leipzig is playing below their potential this season, that’s no secret”
“It was a very interesting football game,” said Nagelsmann. One in which his eleven “played far too many risky passes”. And one in which Leipzig “lost a bit of power after the 70th minute”. And the in-form Thomas Müller, who scored an early goal, praised his opponent: “Leipzig is playing below their potential this season, that’s no secret.”
Nagelsmann relied on the same formation that won 4-1 at Hertha BSC before the international break. As so often, he nominated a back three on the defensive, against Hertha this defense was enough. The question was: would she withstand the onslaught of the Leipzigers, who were again very fond of the ball under Tedesco? “I chose the most offensive formation possible,” Nagelsmann admitted later. He embarked on an experiment – and it went well.
Class reunion in Munich: Domenico Tedesco (left) and Julian Nagelsmann went to school together while training to be a football teacher.
(Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa)
The guests had the first good chance. After a ball relay over three stations, Dani Olmo shot just over the cross corner. Leipzig wanted to play and not just react. This was reflected in an offensive staggering of the lines. And it was also reflected in the courageous build-up play from their own penalty area. Twelve minutes had passed, and Willi Orban would have been well advised to fire a liberating blow. Instead, a penchant for short passing became his undoing. Tolisso stole a pass attempt, Lewandowski’s shot was blocked by Gulacsi, but only to Müller – the 1-0. And Tedesco’s match plan was ready for the wastepaper basket. You could think so.
But Tedesco didn’t intervene in the statics of his exhausting game; his players ran and pressed and took the air out of Bayern to develop creatively and deliberately. Their combinations always ended up with Olmo as the last resort – twice it was only Neuer’s reflexes that prevented the equalizer.
In between, he too was powerless: After Tolisso lost the ball, Christopher Nkunku sprinted through the center like an express train – and after a detour via Konrad Laimer, Silva pushed the ball past Neuer over the line. The equalizer was well deserved. Tedesco clapped his hands on the sidelines, conducted, waved. He didn’t want to freeze in his black thermals without a winter jacket, which looked like he was condemned to constantly conducting and waving his hands. And his team kept running.
Neuer regrets the farewell to Niklas Süle
It took Bayern a while before they regained control of events. Some chances happened rather accidentally: A cross from Coman, for example, became longer and longer – and when it suddenly dropped, it hit goalkeeper Gulacsi and probably the post against the same surprise. Another opportunity initially looked better than it deserved: When Müller nodded the ball into the net after a template from Gnabry, Leipzig complained that Lewandowski had fouled Josko Gvardiol that had preceded the scene – the review of the TV material proved them right, the hit was annulled. A whistling concert sounded in the arena, so powerful that referee Sven Jablonski’s ears certainly had to get used to it again after all the ghost games.
Now, Nagelsmann’s Bayern would not be Bayern Nagelsmann’s, bursting with self-confidence, if they were unnecessarily mourning such a scene. Shortly before the break, Tolisso sent a fantastic pass down the left flank to Coman – Lewandowski rose in the center and scored with a header (44′).
Even after the break, Tedesco stayed true to his match plan. And his basic trust in the attacking direction rewarded him immediately: This time Laimer pulled a pass like a scalpel through the Bayern back three into Nkunku’s run – the Frenchman pushed in through Neuer’s legs to make it 2-2 (53′).
Before Bayern could even begin to think about Leipzig’s tenacity, they invited Bayern to score goals with unnecessary sloppiness in the build-up game, as they did with the first goal. This time it was a kick from Gulacsi, which Bayern immediately passed on to Gnabry – whose shot deflected Gvardiol into his own goal (58th).
And so, from Bayern’s point of view, there was only one small blemish on this successful day. Manuel Neuer, who had his 310th Bundesliga victory in his 458th game and thus equaled a record set by Oliver Kahn (even with 99 games less), regretted in unusually clear terms that FC Bayern did not agree to a contract with central defender Niklas Süle agreed beyond the summer. “We are all annoyed that Niklas is leaving,” said Neuer. “We will miss him.”