Bayer 04 head coach Peter Bosz had to manage without the services of his captain Lars Bender against FC Bayern with a thigh injury ruling the skipper out. Mitchell Weiser replaced him at right back. That was the only change to the starting eleven from the last two games against Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfL Wolfsburg. Dominik Kohr was sidelined with a stomach bug. The FC Bayern captain was also absent due to injury: Sven Ulreich took over in goal from Manuel Neuer.
Bosz prepared his team for an "intense game" where everything had to go right. Bayern coach Niko Kovac, who played for Bayer 04 for three years between 1996 and 1999, expected "a tough game" and "a real fight" against his former club.
And the two teams flew out of the blocks in front of a sell-out crowd. The Werkself put Bayern under pressure from the start. The first chance fell to Kevin Volland in the opening minute when he was fed by Julian Brandt – Volland's shot was blocked by Mats Hummels' hand but referee Tobias Stieler did not award a penalty. The hosts were in charge in the early stages playing at a high tempo and Brandt had the next chance. The shot from the Germany international on 12 minutes went well wide of the target. The record champions then countered and Kingsley Coman had the opening goalscoring opportunity for the visitors but Lukas Hradecky was able to save his effort from 13 yards out (13'). Bayern were back in the game and they pressed forward towards the Leverkusen goal. An attack started by Hummels saw James put Leon Goretzka through in the box but he was unable to convert the chance as he failed to control the ball (26').
The Werkself were less effective up front compared with the start of the game. Leon Bailey, playing on the left flank, threatened the Bayern goal with a free kick that curled just over the bar on the half-hour mark.
Then Bayern broke the deadlock: Hradecky blocked a shot from Coman but Goretzka then broke through in the middle of the box to head in a cross from Thomas Müller to give the visitors the lead on 40 minutes. Shortly after that, Kai Havertz went off injured feeling his hip after being brought down by Joshua Kimmich in a counter-attack. Kimmich was rightly shown a yellow card as Havertz was replaced by Julian Baumgartlinger (45').
Bayern had the ball in the Leverkusen net again just before half-time but referee Stieler ruled out the strike from Robert Lewandowski for offside and that decision was confirmed after consulting the VAR (40+2').
The Werkself started the second half brightly. Volland just failed to connect with a cross from Leon Bailey (46'). The Jamaican then had the crowd on their feet. A foul on Volland resulted in free kick taken by Bailey that he curled into the top left corner of the FC Bayern net from just under 30 yards out to level the score at 1-1 (53') – a brilliant strike!
The goal gave the Werkself a boost. Ulreich was tested six minutes later as he just managed to keep out a volley from Julian Brandt (60'). Then the Bayern keeper was beaten again: A really impressive counter-attack involving Mitchell Weiser and Karim Bellarabi ended with Volland turning the ball past Ulreich into the net from six yards out to make it 2-1 (63'). Volland's seventh goal of the season turned the game round for the Werkself.
Bayern pressed forward in search of an equaliser. Weiser made a crucial intervention to block a header from James (74'). After that, the visitors were unable to break though an impressive Leverkusen defence and the Werkself again and again looked to hit FC Bayern on the break. One of those counter-attacks led to the third goal for Bayer 04. Brandt then picked out substitute Lucas Alario with a pass from the right flank and he kept his nerve as he slipped the ball past Ulreich to make it 3-1 (87'). Referee Stieler initially awarded FC Bayern a free kick for offside but that decision was reversed after the intervention of VAR. Lewandowski headed just wide in added time (90+4'). Then the final whistle was greeted by massive celebration on and off the pitch at the BayArena. The win takes Bayer 04 up to seventh in the Bundesliga just one point behind sixth-placed Wolfsburg.
The Werkself are back in action on Tuesday 5 February: The Bosz team are away to second division FC Heidenheim in the DFB Cup Round of 16. The tie kicks off at 18.30 CET.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Weiser, Tah, S. Bender, Wendell – Havertz (Baumgartlinger 45'), Aránguiz, Brandt – Bellarabi (Paulinho 90+2'), Volland, Bailey (Alario 84')
FC Bayern: Ulreich - Rafinha (Renato Sanches 79'), Süle, Hummels, Alaba - Kimmich, Goretzka - Müller (Gnabry 74'), James (Alphonso Davies 77'), Coman - Lewandowski
Goals: 0-1 Goretzka (40'), 1-1 Bailey (53'), 2-1 Volland (63'), 3-1 Alario (87')
Referee: Tobias Stieler (Hamburg)
Booked: Bellarabi, Aránguiz, Wendell - Kimmich, Coman
Attendance: 30,210 (sell-out)
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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