An FC Bayern without strength and inspiration allows Bayer Leverkusen to pull away in the Bundesliga. One day after the league leader’s next impressive last-minute win, the Munich team lost 0-1 (0-0) against SV Werder Bremen after a surprisingly dull performance for a long time. In the second Sunday game, FC Augsburg won 2-1 against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
The fact that an ex-Munich player scored the winning goal in the sold-out Allianz Arena fit into the image of Werder’s first victory since September 2008. The strong Mitchell Weiser scored in the 59th minute after a brilliant individual performance. National goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had no chance of defending. In the end, the strong Werder goalkeeper Michael Zetterer held on to victory for the guests. Among other things, he made an outstanding save against Bayern joker Mathys Tel (87th).
Before Wednesday’s catch-up game against Union Berlin, Bayern’s gap to the still unbeaten Leverkusen team grew to seven points at the start of the second half of the season. Given Bayer’s consistency, this is an alarm signal for the Munich team and coach Thomas Tuchel.
Especially since they had already needed the help of the video assistant on Sunday before Weiser’s stroke of genius. Referee Marco Fritz overruled a counterattack goal by Werder striker Justin Nijanmah in the 25th minute following VAR intervention. Before the successful Bremen counterattack, Jens Stage separated Bayern playmaker Jamal Musiala from the ball with a foul, which Fritz initially did not see as such in the live view.
After the short training camp in Portugal, the Bayern stars seemed frozen in the Allianz Arena. Tuchel rated the days in the Algarve before kick-off on DAZN as “a good impulse”. It was stupid that there was absolutely nothing to be seen on the lawn. The attacking game was static, without dedication, without inspiration and without speed. And in contrast to the example of Bayer Leverkusen, the rehearsed Munich corner variants also completely fizzled out.
A shot from Leroy Sané and a chance from Dayot Upamecano defused by Werder goalkeeper Michael Zetterer were Bayern’s meager offensive output before the break.
And Werder? Acted compactly and courageously forward even without national players Marvin Ducksch and Leonardo Bittencourt (both yellow card suspensions). For a long time, all that was missing was the deserved reward. Nijnmah’s goal didn’t count. And Bayern captain Neuer used his fingertips to direct a deflected shot from the strong Weiser towards the corner (24′). Bremen’s series of 28 games without a win against Bayern until Sunday seemed to continue.
Tuchel surprisingly forewent an impulse from the bench with Thomas Müller or Leon Goretzka at half-time. Harry Kane shot from distance (50th), but the action did not have a hello effect. Rather, the big moment came from Weiser, who first played past Alphonso Davies and then hit the ball under the crossbar from a tight angle.
Now Tuchel had to react. Müller, Goretzka and Tel came. The pressure from Bayern inevitably increased. Sané tested Zetterer, further exciting scenes in the Werder penalty area (79th). Bremen’s goalkeeper was constantly in the spotlight in the final phase before he and his fellow field players were able to celebrate the big victory.
In the last game of the 18th matchday there was the second home defeat of Sunday. Borussia Mönchengladbach made a mistake against FC Augsburg in their own stadium and lost 2-1. As a result, Borussia missed the jump to a single-digit place in the table, while Augsburg improved to tenth place. The goals for the guests were scored by Phillip Tietz (47th minute) and Arne Engels (51st). Jordan (26th) had given Gladbach the lead.
