Following the international break, Gerardo Seoane was able to call on all returning international players. In comparison to the Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen (1-1) two weeks ago, the 43-year-old coach made one change to his starting line-up: In the initial 3-4-3 formation, Mitchel Bakker started in place of Piero Hincapie on the left side of midfield.
The game got off to an anything but perfect start from a Black and Red perspective: Jamal Musiala beat Bakker down the right flank and his whipped-in cross into the penalty area found Leroy Sané,who unleashed a shot straightaway. The ball deflected off Edmond Tapsoba leaving no chance for Lukas Hradecky as the ball ended up in the net at the far post. The early lead for FC Bayern.
The Seoane team then found it difficult to create chances up front – and were caught out again at the back: A long ball by Dayot Upamecano from his own half found Musiala, who played a one-two with teammate Thomas Müller, before firing a shot in at the near post. Again the ball was slightly deflected by Jonathan Tah. Hradecky got his fingertips to it but was unable to keep it out - 2-0 for FC Bayern (17’). After the half-hour mark, Moussa Diaby (34’) and Robert Andrich (38’) both had chances to score for the Black and Reds - but it was the hosts who scored again.
Musiala and Co. continued to pose a goal threat to the Leverkusen defence. With six minutes to go to half-time, Benjamin Pavard gained possession in the Black and Red half. Musiala and Sadio Mané combined well: The former set up the unmarked FC Bayern number 17 on the edge of the penalty area and he slotted his shot into the bottom right corner. Once again, the ball was deflected - this time by Andrich - on its way into the back of the net on 44 minutes and the record champions went into half-time with a 3-0 lead.
After the restart, it was initially the Nagelsmann team that pressed forward in search of goals. Hradecky pulled off impressive reflex saves on 55 minutes to keep out a double chance for Bayern from goalscorer Mané and Matthijs de Ligt. Mané had the ball again a minute later, after Odilon Kossounou was left on the ground after an aerial duel with de Ligt, and he put the ball in the net to make it 4-0. The goal was given initially but referee Tobias Stieler went off to watch the action again on the screen before ruling the goal out. FC Bayern remained 3-0 up.
Seoane made two changes on 61 minutes: Patrik Schick and Callum Hudson-Odoi made way for Sardar Azmoun and Amine Adli, who returned to action for the first time since recovering from a broken collarbone. The two substitutes had a great chance to score four minutes later: Diaby picked out Adli in the penalty area but his shot was hit straight at Bayern’s keeper Manuel Neuer. The Werkself regained possession and Azmoun attempted to set up Adli. But his pass was misplaced.
The match appeared to be running out of steam. Neither FC Bayern nor the Werkself were able to create clear goalscoring opportunities over the course of the second half. On 84 minutes, Hradecky made a mistake in trying to clear. The skipper slipped and lost the ball leaving Müller with an easy finish to make it 4-0. The final whistle soon followed at the Allianz Arena.
Little time to recover: The Werkself play their third group match in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday 4 October. Leverkusen are away to Porto. The kick-off at the Estádio do Dragão is at 21.00 CET. That is followed four days later by a Bundesliga fixture on 8 October (kick-off: 15.30 CET): The Black and Reds entertain newly promoted Schalke 04.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba – Frimpong (Aránguiz 46’), Andrich, Demirbay, Bakker (Hincapie 46’) – Diaby (Hlozek 74’), Schick (Azmoun 61’) Hudson-Odoi (Adli 61’)
Bayern Munich: Neuer – Pavard, Upamecano (Mazraoui 82’), de Ligt, Davies – Kimmich, Sabitzer (Goretzka 65’) – Sané (Choupo-Moting 74’), Musiala (Gravenberch 81’), Mané (Gnabry 65’) – Müller
Goals: 1-0 Sané (3’), 2-0 Musiala (17’), 3-0 Mané (39’), 4-0 Müller (84’)
Referee: Tobias Stieler (SG Rosenhöhe Offenbach)
Attendance: 75,000 at the Allianz Arena
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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