Negative record

Bayern harmless: That has never happened in 1,100 games!

Bayern had a poor day against Leverkusen.

(Bild: Associated Press/Martin Meissner)

Bayern were held to a 0-0 draw by Bayer Leverkusen in the championship duel - and delivered a historically harmless performance. For the first time since 1992 and after more than 1,100 games, Munich failed to score until half-time.

Bayern at least managed two more shots in the second half - but they also missed the Leverkusen goal. A harmless shot from Harry Kane, which was blocked, ended up out of the goal (73'). Leon Goretzka's header also missed the left side of the goal. Bayern's expected goals value, i.e. the number of goals expected, was 0.05 in the end - also a negative record. "We fought hard and fought for the point," said Bayern's sporting director Christoph Freund. "That was the maximum we could do today against a really good Leverkusen team. We brought the virtues that were required today onto the pitch."

"It's not in Bayern's DNA, ..."
That was also the view of sporting director Max Eberl, who was at least satisfied with the result. "It wasn't typical of us to defend, it's not in Bayern's DNA to play for a draw," Eberl said on Sky, "but Leverkusen played a great game and didn't allow us to do much." Eberl - as well as the players and Aleksandar Pavlović in particular - admitted frankly: "We actually wanted to play our game, but we didn't manage that for the first time this season." Nevertheless, "the mentality of our team was right".

And Leverkusen? They were much better in terms of play. Above all, coach Xabi Alonso's tactic of playing without a skilled striker worked. As a result, Bayer's midfield was more compact, which visibly caused problems for the German record champions. The only thing the Werkself were unable to convert into goals was the bold chances they created.

Alonso is not yet writing off the title
Alonso does not want to write off a successful title defense after the missed victory. Despite still trailing Bayern by eight points with twelve rounds to go, the Basque still believes his team has a chance. "No, no. There are still a lot of games to play," said Alonso when asked whether the championship is now decided. "Of course we have to win a lot of games now, and of course the result in the table could be better," admitted the Bayer coach. Never before in the history of the league has a team lost such a big lead at this stage of the season.

On Tuesday (21:00), Bayern must defend their 2:1 home win from the first leg against Celtic Glasgow in the Champions League play-off. Munich must not allow themselves another weak first half.