Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen: Who will lose their perfect record?
Originally posted on Top-soccer.com
Both Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen will be hoping to maintain their respective perfect starts to the season when the two sides lock horns at the Allianz Arena on Friday.
Bayern have had to work a lot harder than expected, but are still the team to beat this term
Die Roten, who narrowly won the Bundesliga title last season, are once again near the top of the table after three wins from their first three games. The Bavarian titans, who are under the tutelage of Thomas Tuchel, are hoping to win what would be 12th consecutive title and 34th overall at the end of this term, but there is still plenty of football to be played between now and May. Bayern were dealt a huge shock as they were beaten 3-0 by RB Leipzig in the DFL-Supercup, but bounced back with a comfortable 4-0 win over Werder Bremen.
Their opponents did make things harder than expected, as the game was 1-0 for much of the tie before Bayern eventually overpowered them to grab three goals in rapid succession to earn a crucial road victory and set them up ahead of their first home game of the season against Augsburg. Despite conceding an unfortunate own goal, Bayern still won that tie 3-1 with new signing Harry Kane netting a brace to make it two wins from two games. In their third match, Borussia Moenchengladbach appeared to be nearing closer to throwing another wrench in Bayern’s plans after scoring early and digging in to hang on for a 1-0 lead.
However, once again, Bayern’s attackers came through, with Leroy Sane pulling his team level before Mathys Tel netted the game winner just a few minutes before regulation time. Next up for die Roten will be a home match against a Bayer Leverkusen side who have started this season off in fine fettle after a rocky time last season.
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Indeed, die Werkself were flirting with the relegation zone before the club’s execs decided to make a brave decision and bring in Xabi Alonso in October. The Spanish midfielder’s arrival sparked an impressive turnaround, as Bayer Leverkusen not only made it to the semi-finals of the Europa League but also ended up finishing in a respectable sixth spot. Now in his first full season, Alonso’s team have really hit the ground running, starting with a resounding 8-0 win over lower tier side Teutonia Ottensen in the DFB-Pokal.
Impressively, Bayer Leverkusen have already to face two tough sides: RB Leipzig and Borussia Moenchengladbach. In both cases, they emerged as victors, with both performances receiving plaudits. Against Leipzig, they managed to survive a nervy five goal thriller to win 3-2, while they put three past Gladbach sans reply to make it two wins from two.
Leverkusen did get a bit of a “break” in their third game against a newly promoted Darmstadt, who they beat 5-1 to head into the international break on top of the Bundesliga table thanks to their superior goal difference. However, Bayern are expected to be a major threat to their perfect start, especially considering that they have won six of their last eight meetings with die Werkself. However, Alonso has already beaten his former club before – as Leverkusen earned a 2-1 win over Julian Naglesmann’s side last season. That certainly contributed to Naglesmann’s dismissal, with Tuchel taking over as Bayern sought to get their team back on track to at least win the league title.
All in all, one (or possibly both) of these teams will see their perfect start to the season come to an end this Friday. We’ll just have to wait and see as to whether it’s Bayern Munich or Bayer Leverkusen.
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