Head coach Gerardo Seoane made three changes to the side that beat Bielefeld 4-0: Mitchel Bakker, Nadiem Amiri and Paulinho started in place of Piero Hincapie, Amine Adli (both on the bench) and Charles Aranguiz. The Chilean had a problem with a calf muscle and he was not the only player to drop out as Exequiel Palacios withdrew late on due to a cold. Edmond Tapsoba (following ankle injury) and Zidan Sertdemir were on the subs bench for the first time this season.
The Werkself started brightly and got stuck into challenges. That made the early goal conceded by the Black and Reds even more annoying: A free kick from Joshua Kimmich to the far post was met by Dayot Upamecano who hit the ball back across the face of the goal to Robert Lewandowski. The Pole evaded his marker and scored the opener with his heel (4').
Leverkusen appeared unmoved by the early setback. Paulinho, Patrik Schick and Moussa Diaby caused problems for the Bayern defence but the offensive aspirations of the Seoane team went unrewarded. In contrast, Bayern Munich were extremely confident and again and again showed their individual class. As on 19 minutes: Leroy Sané was given too much space and he unleashed a shot from 25 yards out with the ball rebounding off the post. Leon Goretzka had the next decent chance for the visitors a few minutes later. The midfielder had a clear sight of goal from just inside the box but his effort was comfortably saved by Lukas Hradecky (22').
Eight minutes later and the Werkself keeper was beaten for a second time on the day: Alphonso Davies cut into the penalty area from the left and set up Lewandowski to score from inside the six-yard box (30'). The second goal was like a punch in the stomach and within a few minutes the record champions struck another three times: First, Thomas Müller made it 3-0 from a corner (34') before Serge Gnabry netted a brace (35', 37') to put FC Bayern 5-0 up.
The second half began with good news – except for the scoreline: Seoane made his first change sending on Tapsoba, who had suffered a torn ankle ligament in the middle of July, to make his comeback to the first team. The Werkself looked more solid with the change in central defence. And the Black and Red attack started to move up the gears: A great move ended with Demirbay denied by the FCB keeper Manuel Neuer but the Bayer 04 striker Schick pulled a goal back: The Czech was put through by Wirtz and he beat Neuer with a right-foot shot into the bottom left corner (55').
The pace of the game slackened with much of the action in midfield. Bayern eased off leaving the Werkself with a few opportunities on the counter-attack but there was too often a lack of precision in the final third. Bayer 04 head coach Seoane has again and again stressed when asked that his team is going through a phase of development. That includes smaller setbacks as well as success – as on this Sunday afternoon with the 5-1 defeat against the record champions from Munich.
The Black and Reds are back in action on Thursday, 21 October (kick-off: 18.45 CEST): On the third matchday in the group stage of the Europa League, the team led by coach Seoane are away to Real Betis. It's the next top match as Leverkusen and the Spaniards both have six points from the first two games.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Frimpong (Bellarabi 64'), Kossounou, Tah, Bakker – Amiri, Demirbay – Diaby (Adli 64’), Wirtz (Retsos 79’), Paulinho (Tapsoba 46’) – Schick (Alario 79’).
Bayern Munich: Neuer – Süle (Richards 72’), Upamecano, Hernandez, Davies (Stanisic 40’) – Kimmich, Goretzka (Sabitzer 46’) – Gnabry, Müller (Coman 64’), Sané – Lewandowski (Musiala 64’).
Goals: 0-1 Lewandowski (4’), 0-2 Lewandowski (30’) 0-3 Müller (34’), 0-4 Gnabry (35’), 0-5 Gnabry (37’), 1-5 Schick (55’)
Booked:
Referee: Sven Jablonski (Bremen)
Attendance: 29,542 (sell-out)
Calling all Bayer 04 fans: The Werkself will play Pisa SC, newly promoted to Serie A, at the BayArena as part of the season opener. The clash with the club from Tuscany is on Tuesday, 5 August with the kick-off at 18:00 CET. Entrance to the stadium with a wide range of entertainment provided is possible from 15:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales for the season opener.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen have signed the 17-year-old forward Dustin Buck. The Germany youth international joins from the youth set-up at FC Augsburg. The technically gifted and fast attacker will strengthen the Werkself U19 squad.
Show moreSeveral Bayer 04 Legends, Bayer executives, club officials, current defender Arthur and, of course, dozens of enthusiastic children turned out on Saturday on the south side of Sao Paulo for the official opening of the Bayer 04 Football Academy, located at Club Bayer on the campus of Bayer Brazil.
Show moreA great night for 'Calle': Bayer 04 new signing Carlotta Wamser helped Germany to an opening win in the Women's Euro in Switzerland with an impressive performance. After coming on as a substitute in the 2-0 victory over Poland in Group C, the winger provided an assist and helped set up the second goal. The 21-year-old earned great praise from her coach and teammates in her first tournament match.
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