Werkself lose 3-1 in opening fixture

"We had lots of chances to turn the game round. Unfortunately, we didn't take them. We were asleep at set pieces against us," said Jonathan Tah after the game. And Bernd Leno was equally convinced: "We could have done much, much better today. You can see the team is doing what the coach wants us to do."

Heiko Herrlich made two changes to the starting eleven that played Karlsruher SC in last week's DFB Cup tie: Leon Bailey came in as a replacement for Kai Havertz who suffered a knee injury in Karlsruhe. Charles Aránguiz started in place of Kevin Kampl. Kampl was joined on the subs’ bench by Ramazan Özcan, Aleksandar Dragovic, Julian Baumgartlinger, Julian Brandt, Vladlen Yurchenko and Joel Pohjanpalo. Lars Bender (rehab) and Tin Jedvaj (fractured shin) also missed the trip to Munich along with Havertz and Kießling.

Süle nets early opener

“We want to get a result in Munich and play on the front foot," said Heiko Herrlich ahead of the game. And his team backed him up. However, the first chance of the game fell to the hosts. When Tolisso shot from 16 yards out on five minutes Bernd Leno was able to make the save. The Werkself number one was then left helpless four minutes later: A free kick from the left taken by Sebastian Rudy was headed in from close range by Niklas Süle to give FC Bayern an early lead on nine minutes.

Bayer 04 refused to be cowed and had two great chances to equalise three minutes after going behind. Firstly, the FCB keeper Sven Ulreich saved from Admir Mehmedi when he was put through by Karim Bellarabi with the latter putting the ball wide of the post from the rebound on 12 minutes.

Efficient Bayern

Instead of drawing level, the Werkself went 2-0 down on 18 minutes. It was another set piece that led to the second goal for the hosts: A corner from Joshua Kimmich was punched clear by Leno as far as Arturo Vidal and his lofted cross was headed into the back of the net by Tolisso from three yards out.

The second setback was answered with another chance for Bayer 04. But Kevin Volland missed the chance to pull a goal back on 21 minutes when he was unable to beat Ulreich from close range. In terms of possession, Herrlich's team was on equal terms with Bayern. However, FCB were more ruthless and also went on to create more chances.

The post prevented the Werkself from going 3-0 behind on 23 minutes from a shot from Tolisso and Leno then pulled off a last-ditch save from Thomas Müller four minutes later. By then the Allianz Arena was drenched when the heavens opened – difficult conditions for both teams. Due to the thunderstorm in Munich the second half was delayed by ten minutes. Heiko Herrlich brought on two substitutes: Dragovic came on for the injured Sven Bender and Brandt replaced Bailey.

And the Werkself applied the pressure with Volland and Bellarabi having the first goalscoring opportunities after the restart. Ulreich saved Volland's shot from a tight angle with his foot and Bellarabi put a header over the bar. It was a blow that Bayern were able to strike again in the second half. A foul by Aránguiz on Robert Lewandowski led to referee Stieler awarding a penalty for the hosts with the help of video evidence. Lewandowski made no mistake from the penalty spot on 52 minutes.

Bayer 04 hold heads high

The response from the Werkself was impressive. Bayer 04 continued to play with their heads held high, showed great determination and created excellent chances. First, a brilliant move and a pass from Bellarabi to Brandt saw Ulreich pull off a save from close range and the follow-up shot from Dominik Kohr was blocked by Kimmich on 57 minutes. Then came the long-deserved reply from Bayer 04: Brandt passed to Mehmedi on the edge of the FCB box and the Swiss striker was able to hammer the ball into the net leaving Ulreich helpless.

The Werkself really deserved the goal. They remained in the game and were now clearly the better team with a number of other great chances. Kohr, who was making his 100th Bundesliga appearance, just missed the target with a header from a Mehmedi free kick on 72 minutes. Kampl was unlucky that his shot from the edge of the box was deflected wide by Mehmedi and Brandt on 88 minutes. In the closing stages FC Bayern also had chances that went begging from Lewandowski (86') and Arjen Robben (90').

Bayer 04 are back in action on Saturday 26 August with a Bundesliga home game against TSG Hoffenheim. The kick-off at the BayArena is at 15.30 CET.

Match stats:

Bayern Munich: Ulreich - Kimmich, Süle, Hummels (Rafinha 62’), Alaba - Tolisso, Rudy – Müller (Robben 61’), Vidal, Ribery (Coman 76’) – Lewandowski

 Bayer 04: Leno – Henrichs, Tah, S. Bender (Dragovic 46’), Wendell – Kohr, Aránguiz (Kampl 61’) – Bellarabi, Mehmedi – Bailey (Brandt 46’), Volland

 Goals: 1-0 Süle (9’), 2-0 Tolisso (18’), 3-0 Lewandowski (52’ pen.), 3-1 Mehmedi (65’)

 Referee: Stieler (Hamburg)

 Booked: Vidal - Kohr, Aránguiz

 Attendance: 75,000 (sell-out)