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Robert Lewandowski: He has already scored 15 goals in eleven competitive games in 2021/2022
Photo: Revierfoto / imago images / Revierfoto
The lightning start:
the TV cameras were aimed at Florian Wirtz at the beginning. With nine scorer points from six games, the 18-year-old was the man of the hour in the Bundesliga. It is one of the main reasons why there was talk of "eye level" before the duel between his Leverkusen players and FC Bayern. Now that landlord kicked off, and only 190 seconds later the TV cameras caught a man who had often dashed hopes for a game that was as close as possible: Robert Lewandowski celebrated the quick Munich opening goal (4th minute) . The Leverkusen nightmare began.
Result of the game:
It should be a top
game
, Leverkusen had a run last, Bayern lost to Frankfurt. But it turned out to be a debacle. Thanks to a 5: 1 (5: 0) win at Bayer Leverkusen, FC Bayern remain leaders after the eighth game day (19 points). Dortmund is second (18), Leverkusen third (16).
Top duel, really?
The so strong Wirtz, the beautiful dribbles by Moussa Diaby and Patrik Schick continued in the outstanding form of the EM - that was Leverkusen before the international break, which had been at the top of the table with the Munich team. Now there wasn't much left of the shape. Leverkusen defended weakly across the field and let themselves be pushed into their own penalty area far too easily; The fact that the second Munich goal fell in the 30th minute (Lewandowski again) was a surprise.
The collapse:
Leverkusen was completely overwhelmed, without the ailing Charles Aránguiz there was no protection in the center. And this is how this series of goals came about: Thomas Müller scored in the 34th minute, 60 seconds later Serge Gnabry made it 4-0 and in the 37th minute the 5-0. "There are no words for that," said Bayer legend Stefan Kießling at half-time at Dazn, visibly bent.
The next humiliation:
The 40th minute was perfect for Bayer 04 when Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann took his pace player Alphonso Davies off the field - to spare him after a strenuous international trip with Canada. You have to be able to treat yourself to that. There was no further goal, but the 0: 5 was already enough to go down as the highest half-time deficit in Leverkusen's Bundesliga history. And Bayern's goal frenzy also had potential for the history books.
Research defenders:
FC Bayern once committed the Brazilian central defender Lucio from Leverkusen, and the marches across the entire field of the defender were legendary. Now, years after Lucio, Bayern have back defenders who are surprisingly offensive. Dayot Upamecano prepared the Munich opening goal after a free kick and initiated the 5-0, Niklas Süle was the preparer for the 3-0 (at a corner), Davies had prepared with a solo for the 2-0. The goals were scored by others, but the men in the back row from the defense were the secret heroes of victory.
No statement:
And with Lucas Hernández there was another defender in the starting line-up at Bayern. Not really worth mentioning, after all, with a € 80 million transfer fee, he is the most expensive player in Bundesliga history. But this week his nomination might have come as a surprise. Hernández, 25, faces imprisonment in Spain for disregarding a court judgment (read more here). The Frenchman will appear before a criminal court in Madrid on Tuesday, and as of now, Hernández would face a six-month prison sentence in the following days. Bayern boss Oliver Kahn did not want to comment on this in the Dazn interview before kick-off.
Winner of the second half: It was
Hernández who couldn't keep up after an interface pass from Wirtz to Schick and was at least partly to blame for the 1: 5 (55th).
After that, it was more of a run out of FC Bayern, Nagelsmann continued to take his top players off the field, first Goretzka, then Lewandowski, Müller and Süle, and so it was that Leverkusen scored the only goal of the second half.
Realization of the game:
When it comes to the question of the Bundesliga conditions, the answer is always: Bayern Munich is hard to get past in this country, that also applies to Julian Nagelsmann, who saw the strongest 45 minutes of his Munich time against Leverkusen got.
Nobody has to dream of an exciting three-way battle between Munich, Dortmund and Leverkusen.