MUNICH, Feb 11: Bayer Leverkusen and coach Xabi Alonso took a big step closer to ending Bayern Munich’s domination of the Bundesliga as they beat Bayern 3-0.
It’s carnival season in the Rhineland, and Leverkusen fans, many of them in costume, had plenty to celebrate as Xabi Alonso’s team barely allowed Bayern a chance to score.
It was Leverkusen’s 31st game this season without a loss in all competitions, a remarkable campaign for a team which was in the relegation zone when Alonso took charge in Oct. 2022. Alonso celebrated with Bayer Leverkusen’s players and fans after the biggest win to date in his brief coaching career.
After a kickoff delayed by fan protests, it was a Bayern player who scored the first goal – but he was not playing for Bayern.
Right back Josip Stanisic, sent out on loan to Leverkusen at the start of the season, popped up at the far post to score off Robert Andrich’s low cross in the 18th minute after Bayern seemed to be taken by surprise by Leverkusen’s quick throw-in routine.
Stanisic put his hands up in apology and barely celebrated his first Bundesliga goal in nearly two years, though his teammates certainly did.
Leverkusen made it 2-0 with an incisive counter early in the second half, Grimaldo sprinting down the left flank and playing a one-two with Nathan Tella before lofting a shot over goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Jeremie Frimpong added a third in stoppage time into the empty net after Neuer had gone up for a Bayern corner.
The game was a comprehensive tactical victory for Alonso over Thomas Tuchel and Bayern, which could not break through Leverkusen’s defense. Harry Kane has scored 24 goals in 20 Bundesliga games since joining Bayern but had few chances to score as Leverkusen squeezed him out of the game, even though Bayern finished with five specialist forwards on the field at once.Alonso switched to a back four from his usual three-at-the-back formation and benched Frimpong to deploy Stanisic on the right of defense for the first time this season. Tuchel started new signing Sacha Boey, normally a right back, on the left side and he was out of position for Stanisic’s opening goal.
OTHER RESULTS
Also Saturday, Union Berlin beat Wolfsburg 1-0 in a game that had repeated interruptions, about 30 minutes in total, as fans threw tennis balls onto the field in protest at the league’s planned investment deal.
The referee took the players to the locker rooms in the first half after stoppages to clear away tennis balls thrown by Union fans. When play resumed, there was another interruption when Wolfsburg fans threw more balls. Long-running protests against the German league’s plans to sell a stake of revenue to an outside investor have intensified as talks are held with prospective buyers.Danilho Doekhi headed the only goal for Union in the 21st minute of first-half stoppage time.Fifth-place Leipzig drew 2-2 at Augsburg to lose more ground in the race for the Champions League places. (PTI)
