A full stadium, a warm autumnal shine, and an opportunity to take top spot in the Bundesliga: the stage was set for a thrilling and captivating battle between Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich on Sunday afternoon. A match highly anticipated as one of the best spectacles of the campaign so far, between two teams in thrilling form in front of goal.
For just three minutes or so, the fan’s appetite for the game was truly satisfied.
Until Joshua Kimmich found an unmarked Dayot Upamecano in the box from a superbly worked free-kick, who’s volley across the penalty box sublimely diverted past Lukas Hradecky with an exquisite flick by the man of the moment, Robert Lewandowski. His movement and timing to get on the end of the pass so effortless, so swift coupled with the mastery and brilliance to flick the ball home.
Is there anything Lewandowski cannot do?
A goal to make it eight goals in eight games for the Polish hitman. He ended the afternoon with nine in eight, a striker simply strutting his business on another planet blessed with a pure striker’s instinct.
The rest was history. All of about ten minutes later, Bayern Munich once again ripped through Leverkusen when Leroy Sane struck a sweet strike on to the post.
It was simply too easy for Nagelsmann’s ruthless attacking arsenal consisting of the stunning quartet of Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry and Sane who’s quickly discovering his best form once again.
A Leverkusen side thin on midfield muscle and stability — with Robert Andrich, Charles Aranguiz, Exequiel Palacios and Julian Baumgartlinger all deemed unavailable before the match — pushed further upfield in chase of a swift reply, leaving gaps between the lines that Bayern’s attackers tore through at will.
It took just seven minutes for Nagelsmann’s men to hit four goals in such ruthless and clinical fashion – Lewandowski (30th minute), Thomas Muller (34th), Gnabry (35th) and Gnabry again (37th) – simply killing any hopes and expectations fans and the media had of a closely-contested spectacle. The fourth and fifth goals scored by Gnabry was simply stunning and relentless, football played out of elite-level territory.
The cross from Thomas Muller for Gnabry’s fourth was truly mesmerising, the deft touch from Gnabry to slot home past Hradecky was even better. The fifth, Leverkusen simply could not live with as Gnabry played a quick one-two with counterpart Leon Goretzka before coolly slotting his fifth Bundesliga goal of the campaign.
Remember when Bayern had that stuttering patch all of about a month ago? With Julian Nagelsmann’s head ready to be handed on a silver platter just about two months into his tenure as Bayern boss. Well, those doubts have been well and truly dismantled.
Yes, they suffered an unexpected and historic home defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt before the international break but Nagelsmann before the contest at the BayArena, simply made sure that it was only a miniscule blip in a machine that simply cannot help blitzing their rivals on their way to domestic supremacy.
The win at Leverkusen made it 10 wins from 12 for Bayern Munich, highlighting a side showing no signs of letting up.
All Gerardo Seoane’s Leverkusen side could do was to adopt a more defensive 5-2-3 system to try and control Bayern’s rampant display in attack and hope the champions would switch into preservation mode, conserving energy for Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League group-tie trip to play Benfica in Lisbon.
Fortunately for them, Nagelsmann’s men allowed them a dot on the scoreboard when the extraordinary wonderkid Florian Wirtz executed a sumptuous through ball for Patrik Schick to score.
Seasoned Bundesliga watchers will not have been surprised at the state at which Bayern laid their rivals to rest. From defence to attack, Bayern were dominant, ruthless, relentless and merciless. Even with Niklas Sule playing at right-back, Leverkusen simply did not have the bravery to trouble Nagelsmann’s makeshift backline.
It was men against boys, but most of all it was a strong statement from Bayern that they are not growing tired of capturing more Bundesliga gongs even with a different coach in the dugout. We’ve mentioned the brilliance of Bayern’s scary quartet in attack but we cannot leave here without mentioning the industry, efficiency and controlling nature that is the reliable midfield duo of Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka showcasing a midfield masterclass.
Nadem Amiri, and Kerem Demirbay simply could not get near them as they both disheveled and dismantled the Leverkusen midfield and defence with their passing, movement and swift interchanging with the attackers.
The superlative class of the first 14 or 15 players in this Munich squad is a given. Combined with the sky-high intrinsic motivation levels of the players and new coach Nagelsmann’s nerdish and admirable attention to detail, it makes for a truly frightening package, and it is reflected throughout the whole starting XI.
In training, the former Hoffenheim and Leipzig coach had his team specifically rehearse the overload of the central areas, with Thomas Muller and Leroy Sane taking up spaces between the lines to create opportunities. It proved the perfect preparation for Leverkusen’s drafty set-up. “It might sound strange but we could have scored more goals in the first half,” Nagelsmann smiled contentedly in a cream-coloured Boss sweatshirt.
Take away their astounding 12-0 cup triumph over fifth division Bremer SV in August and Bayern have still scored 40 times in 11 outings so far this season. Unstoppable firepower in attack.
Bayern look more hungry, more refined, more matured and ready to fire in all cylinders this season. It’s not just the whole of Germany who have to sit up and take notice, but Europe too.
It may be a different head in the managerial dugout, but Bayern are out for blood yet again.
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