Leverkusen’s capitulation at Bayern confirms demise of an interesting rivalry | Bundesliga

If it was going to finish, it was all the time prone to finish right here. That it was going to finish precisely like this, although, was not so predictable. Bayer Leverkusen arrived on the Allianz Area on a run of 37 Bundesliga away video games unbeaten, they usually by no means regarded like extending it. You'll forgive the Bundesliga impartial for mourning not the lack of an unbelievable record-breaking sequence which stretched again to 27 Might 2023 – when Xabi Alonso's crew have been closely crushed by relegation-battling Bochum – however the demise of a competitor to Bayern Munich not seen since Jürgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund have been of their thrilling pomp.

This was much less an genuine Topspiel and extra a piercing afterparty hangover, a tricky supermarket-bread pretzel and lukewarm espresso, a Monday morning letter from HMRC, a black and white declaration of unavoidable dues owed. All of which, in fact, was nice for Bayern as they limbered up for this week's Champions League assembly (an actual deal Topspiel) towards holders Paris Saint-Germain, with the just lately re-signed Vincent Kompany in a position to present the authority and pragmatism that led him up to now by leaving Harry Kane, Luis Díaz and Michael Olise on the substitutes' bench.

That is no criticism of Kompany or Bayern, who've earned the correct to handle the sources of hardly their largest squad in latest reminiscence as they see match. After dispatching the 2024 champions – or what's left of them – Bayern's report for the season stands at a powerful 15 video games, 15 wins.

In some ways this newest one was Kompany's governance of the marketing campaign in microcosm: the revival of Serge Gnabry, who scored the opener halfway by way of the primary half; the make-do-and-mend method which is profitable sufficient to look something however with Konrad Laimer and now younger Tom Bischof excelling within the full-back positions (they assisted the primary two targets, with Laimer laying on a primary Bundesliga strike for Nicolas Jackson); the standing to go away out the likes of Kane and it not being an enormous problem. They remained inconceivable to comprise, racing right into a 3-0 half-time lead which they by no means relinquished. The coach has, within the phrases of Süddeutsche Zeitung's Martin Schneider, “reworked Bayern again right into a beast”.

Bayern have been however met with little resistance. Leverkusen had an xG of 0.02 at half-time, and that rose to only 0.12 after a second half of Bayern cruising with a cushty lead and making a raft of adjustments. “We have been by no means,” stated the characteristically frank Robert Andrich, “in a zone within the first half the place we have been going to have the ability to compete with Bayern.” One wonders how a lot of Kasper Hjulmand's over-cautious method – with an obvious 3-4-2-1 shortly changing into a 5-4-1, and with their star Alejandro Grimaldo and the skilled Jonas Hofmann additionally each on the bench – was residual injury from Die Werkself's personal latest Champions League brush with PSG, during which they performed bravely and creditably within the first half and nonetheless discovered themselves 4-1 down on the break en path to a humiliating 7-2 loss.

Simply as Bayern can't be blamed for the loss of life of competitors, neither can Leverkusen. OK, the Erik Ten Hag appointment was a misstep however a lot of this season's ache was inevitable after the mass gross sales of the summer season. Hjulmand has a packed calendar and little time to create a cohesive unit from a set of gifted gamers who're nonetheless on track to make the highest 4; a very good consequence. As a membership Leverkusen deserve credit score for recognising who and the place they're, and that they'll't be Bayern. However having been spoiled on this fixture in recent times, waving goodbye to an interesting rivalry is a candy sorrow.

Speaking factors

• Even when they'll hardly be seen as a real risk to Bayern – regardless of having developed significantly from their 6-0 humbling in Munich on the season's opening evening – RB Leipzig are going a good distance in direction of arguing they're the very best of the remainder. Ole Werner's crew stay second, 5 factors behind, after a beguiling show to shine off one other of the early season high-fliers, Stuttgart. Their new items are clicking, with the wonderful 18-year-old Yan Diomande shining (and scoring) once more and centre-forward Rômulo clinching a 3-1 win late on after benefiting from Alexander Nübel's stumble. “His identify says all of it,” stated the latter of the previous. “He's a diamond.”

• Jobe Bellingham could not have had fairly as seismic an influence on the Bundesliga as far as Diomandé, however he made a worthwhile cameo in Dortmund's slender win at struggling Augsburg on Friday evening that saved them third, incomes fulsome reward from his coach Niko Kovac. “He's all the time current, he has nice physicality and a technical high quality that he confirmed once more right here in his half-hour on the pitch,” Kovac informed Sky after Bellingham helped to safe the consequence with an ideal last-ditch deal with on Elvis Rexhbecaj, stopping the Kosovan from scoring an equaliser. “I've no doubts about him. Fairly the other. We're constructing him up step-by-step. Actually, it's going even sooner than I anticipated as a result of the boy has a lot high quality.”

• It's been per week of appreciable progress too for Borussia Mönchengladbach, following up the 3-1 DfB Pokal win over second-tier Karslruhe with a primary Bundesliga win since March, ending a determined run of 15 with out a win – and with nice model, as they ultimately thumped St Pauli 4-0, with a brace from Haris Tabakovic and a virtuoso midfield show from the renewed Florian Neuhaus, who had been banished to the under-23 crew firstly of the season. It was well timed too, with Heidenheim and Mainz each performing creditably in isolation throughout 1-1 attracts with Eintracht Frankfurt and Werder Bremen respectively. However their failures to win allowed Gladbach to carry themselves out of the underside two with their win in Hamburg. Regardless of the spectacular show and consequence their sporting director, Rouven Schröder, is anticipated to carry off naming Eugen Polanski, the interim coach, because the everlasting successor to Gerardo Seoane, with the derby towards FC Köln to come back forward of the worldwide pause.

• Köln beat fellow promoted facet Hamburg on Sunday afternoon to enter the derby in effective fettle, with new centre-forward Ragnar Ache including a primary Bundesliga aim to his Pokal strike towards Bayern within the week. However everybody had nearly forgotten about Ache's opener by the tip of a tortuously lengthy second half, with referee Daniel Schlager and his crew taking a ridiculous six minutes to chalk off a Fábio Vieira aim for the guests, which had appeared a reasonably open and shut case (Schlager defended himself by arguing that “security takes priority over velocity”, although the stressed crowd on the RheinEnergie Stadion clearly felt in a different way even when the method ultimately discovered of their favour. It led to 12 minutes of stoppage time – a protracted sufficient stretch to show the house facet's 2-1 lead towards 9 males right into a complete (on paper, no less than) 4-1 thumping with further targets on the counter by the wonderful Stated El Mala and Jakub Kaminski.