Bundesliga
Liveticker | Schedule | table
After the final whistle, Niklas Süle was in the field for a while longer. Again and again he wiped his hands on the back of his head, Sule was annoyed. Bayern's central defender may have thought of the scene in the final seconds of added time, his header, which defeated Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulácsi still phenomenal and steered to the post. It stayed at 1: 1 (1: 1).
It was the dramatic end of a rousing game and a game that frustrated Sule and his teammates. "We came here to take the league lead," said Thomas Müller. When they left and the team bus left the catacombs of the Leipzig stadium one hour after the end of the game, they drove away as third in the Bundesliga. Two points behind Leipzig, one behind Dortmund - you get the impression: The Munich have on their way to the eighth championship title in a row equally strong opponents.
FILIP SINGER / EPA-EFE / REX
Niklas Süle (center) could have made the Bayern victory perfect in the final seconds
Of course, only the fourth matchday is over, there are still 90 points left until the end of the season in May. And yet this top-tier game at this early stage could have been a taster of the rest of the season - a season in which a three-way fight for the title could develop, in which RB Leipzig is confident, alongside Dortmund and Bayern To play the championship. The times in which the Munich champions won the national championship title with 15 (season: 2016/2017), 19 (2013/2014) 21 (2017/2018) or even 25 points (2012/2013), they are finally over.
Bayern begins furiously, then Nagelsmann turns
The summit even started more typically: No three minutes were played, already were the Bayern in the lead by the outstanding Robert Lewandowski. In the minutes thereafter until the half-time break Bayern played with their best performance of the season the overtaxed leaders to the wall, it was a class difference.
"We would have had to decide the game early on and have to lead higher," said captain Manuel Neuer, and with this assessment he was right. But then, just before half-time, the equalizer came from a penalty kick that Lucas Hernández had caused when he unnecessarily hit Yussuf Poulsen's heels. "The congress we have given Leipzig," said Müller later, the day after his 30th Birthday: "presented with bows."
But it was less the goal that brought the Bayern after the change from the concept. Rather, it was the changeover that Julian Nagelsmann made at half-time - a system change that proved he was a top trainer with his flexibility. He is referring to Diego Demme's substitution for Lukas Klostermann, the move to a four-tie, with Demme and Konrad Laimer on the double six. Leipzig now came through the middle, made some big chances. This tactic of Nagelsmann surprised the Bayern, they worked in the first 20 minutes of the second half particularly battered.
photo gallery
12 pictures
Bundesliga: The draw in the top game in picturesWhether Munich coach Niko Kovac would not have given impetus earlier, Thomas Müller was later asked. Whether it is not the task of the coach to respond immediately to the move of the opponent, to counteract? He said no, and said, "Please do not set fire, not so late in the evening." Mueller then put the counter question to the reporter with a smile: "And how do you rate the work of your boss?"
Gulácsi indicates master ambitions
In the end, however, Leipzig had a bit of luck, as Bayern again became more dominant, missed three top chances, twice hit aluminum - which is why Julian Nagelsmann said after the game: "The 1: 1 is not mega-undeserved, but if I was here as a loser, I would not say that Bayern's victory would have been undeserved. "
Leipzig goalkeeper Gulácsi hinted at the goal this season when he said: "The draw is okay, it's not bad to score against an immediate rival." A quite remarkable statement: a direct competitor? Anyone who speaks like that, of course, wants to become a German champion. Last season Borussia Dortmund had put Bayern in the title race until the end under pressure. This year, the record champion with RB Leipzig still gets a second counterparty.
RB Leipzig - Bayern Munich 1: 1 (1: 1)
0: 1 Lewandowski (3rd)
1: 1 Forsberg (45 + 3, penalty)
Leipzig: Gulácsi - Mukiele, Konaté, Orban - Klostermann (46th Demme), Laimer, Forsberg (69th Nkunku), Halstenberg - Sabitzer, Poulsen (81st Cunha), Werner
Munich: New - Pavard, Süle, Boateng, Hernández - Kimmich, Thiago (88th Coutinho) - Coman, Müller (63rd Tolisso), Gnabry (62nd Davies) - Lewandowski
Yellow cards: Halstenberg, Nkunku, Laimer / Lewandowski, Boateng
Referee: Stegemann
Viewers: 41,939 (sold out)
