Bayern Munich made it 15 consecutive wins from as many matches with their 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz Arena. Vincent Kompany was able to give brief rests to Harry Kane, Luis Diaz and Michael Olise ahead of the midweek Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain as all three started from the bench and came on in the second half. Nicolas Jackson, Serge Gnabry, Lennart Karl, and Tom Bischof comprised Bayern’s attacking front four from the start and all shone quite well for themselves. Jackson scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern, Gnabry opened the scoring in the 25th minute, Bischof was awarded man of the match and assisted Gnabry’s goal, and Karl was as lively as ever in attack.
Having gone 3-0 from within the first 45 minutes, that match was essentially over as a contest from the halftime whistle and it was clearly evident that Leverkusen turned more to damage control in the second half rather than trying to claw their way back into the match. By that same token, Bayern certainly took their foot off of the gas a bit in the second 45 minutes but still will perhaps a bit unlucky not to have scored a fourth goal.
After the match, board member for sport Max Eberl couldn’t hide his admiration for just how good this Bayern side have been performing so far this season, having a set a record in the process for most consecutive wins to start any top five European league season. “It’s just a pleasure to see this team. It’s a pleasure to feel the energy with which the team acts. In the beginning, many people certainly thought: ‘What’s going on today’. But the coaching staff is extremely concerned about what and how they can do it. The coach trusts this team and the team confirmed the trust from the first minute,” he enthused (FCBayern.com).
Having been a player for VfL Bochum, Greuther Fürth, and Borussia Mönchengladbach in addition to his front office roles at both Mönchengladbach and RB Leipzig, Eberl has had his fair share of being on the opposite end of in-form Bayern sides. With that said, he knows the mental traps that can be fallen into when certain names aren’t on the Bayern team sheet. “I was often on the other side against Bayern. When you read that two or three people are missing, a moment of hope germinates. But the team put an end to this moment in the first minute and played a super dominant first half. In the second half, you can’t blame anyone because the PSG game was already in their heads,” he explained.
If you want more takes on the match, let’s talk about how it all played out on this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show:
