First vs second, the BIGGEST game of the season, league leaders Bayer Leverkusen hosted Bayern Munich as they looked to increase their lead at the top of the table to five points, while the visitors looked to move into first.
You wouldn’t know that these teams were only two points apart in the first half as Leverkusen dominated the game and Bayern were never able to cause any real problems for Leverkusen. Die Werkself then took the lead when Bayern switched off at a throw-in and who else but Bayern loanee Josip Stanisic converted.
“Bayern fell asleep and Leverkusen took full advantage!”
Josip Stanisic with a HUGE goal against his parent club! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/1ZgXgtr0LL
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) February 10, 2024
In the second half, Leverkusen continued to dominate Bayern and doubled their lead when Nathan Tella played through Alejandro Grimaldo to make it 2-0. Bayer managed to grow into the game more but it was too little too late as Leverkusen showed their defensive strength to keep them out.
Then right at the end of the game, Jeremie Frimpong made it three when Manuel Neuer came up for a corner leaving the goal wide open.
The win sees Leverkusen move five points ahead of Bayern and a step closer to a potential first league title win.
Bayer Leverkusen:
Lukas Hradecky – 6
Edmond Tapsoba – 7 – His first league start since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations and Tapsoba showed again how important he is in the absence of Odilon Kossounou.
Jonathan Tah – 7 – Overall, Bayern were quiet in attack, but one of the best chances they did have was when Leroy Sané was played through and Tah was able to catch up and stop him from getting a shot off. Tah has developed in leaps and bounds under Alonso and is one of the key pieces, along with Granit Xhaka, in this Leverkusen team.
Piero Hincapié – 6
Josip Stanisic – 7 – After struggling to break into the Leverkusen starting 11 in the first half of the season AFCON has allowed Stanisic to finally have his chance to shine and he stepped up when they needed him most, against his parent club.
Robert Andrich – 7
Granit Xhaka – 7
Alejandro Grimaldo – 7 – Again Grimaldo has shown that he is THE signing of the season. The left-back was one of Leverkusen’s key players going forward and was rewarded with a well-taken finish. In 21 Bundesliga games, Grimaldo now has eight goals and nine assists.
Nathan Tella – 7
Florian Wirtz – 6
Amine Adli – 6
Others: Jeremie Frimpong (6), Jonas Hofmann (-), Gustavo Puerta (-), Adam Hlozek (-)
Bayern Munich:
Manuel Neuer – 5
Dayot Upamecano – 5 – An odd game from the Frenchman. Upamecano made several last ditch challenges to keep out Leverkusen but was also rather poor when it came to passing the ball out from the back.
Eric Dier – 5
Kim Min-Jae – 6
Noussair Mazraoui – 6
Aleksander Pavlovic – 5
Leon Goretzka – 5
Sacha Boey – 4 – After a solid debut, Boey struggled against Leverkusen. There is a sense of irony that the right-back Bayern loaned out as he was not needed, not only ended up scoring but also outperformed their €30m January signing.
Leroy Sané – 5
Jamal Musiala – 4
Harry Kane – 4 – Quite. A testament to Leverkusen’s defensive performance that they were able to keep both Jamal Musiala and Kane quiet throughout the game. However, he was also unable to assert himself in the game when his team needed him.
Others: Joshua Kimmich (5), Thomas Müller (5), Mathys Tel (5) Raphaël Guerreiro (-), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (-)
GGFN | Jack Meenan
