There were reasons for Bayer Leverkusen to be optimistic ahead of their clash against Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, despite Bayern’s massive winning streak. Their own unbeaten run away from home dwarfed Bayern’s current winning run, having stood at a phenomenal 37 games, while the Bavarians’ lineup saw a lot of stars rested and put on the bench.
Instead, they were handed a demoralizing 3-0 defeat as Bayern ran out comfortable victors. Speaking after the match, Bayer Leverkusen boss Kasper Hjulmand
acknowledged Bayern’s strength: “Bayern is a top-three team in Europe. They punished us in three or four situations that we need to improve,” the Danish coach explained, as captured by Bayern’s official website. “We’re not satisfied and have a lot of work to do. Overall, Bayern was the better team, and we have to acknowledge that.”
Bayer Leverkusen had generally recovered well from the disastrous Erik Ten Hag stint to start the season, winning 4 of their last 5 Bundesliga matches before this match. But a recent 2-7 demolition against Paris Saint Germain in the Champions league and this 3-0 loss against this rotated Bayern side makes it rather clear that they still have some work to do to stand up to Europe’s elite.
If you want more takes on the match, let’s talk about how it all played out on this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show:
- A look at Bayern Munich’s starting XI selections…who stood out, who struggled, and more.
- A rundown of the scoring and substitutions as we walk through the flow of the match.
- Some final takeaways on the match.
