Bayern Munich full of highlights in 6-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen
Their defense was a bit shaky, but Bayern Munich pushed to an emphatic 6-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen thanks to their dominant attack.
A high-octane start to the first 45 minutes
Bayern Munich traveled away to Leverkusen for arguably the most tense semi-final in the DFB-Pokal. The visitors, having wrapped up the Bundesliga title already, hunt for one of the remaining two trophies left in the competitive season. The high-profile semi-final clash between Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich opened to an electric start.
From the get-go the local side rushed to make Bayern Munich as uncomfortable as possible. They pressed quickly and worked hard to force errors out of the Bayern midfield and back line. But unfortunately for Leverkusen, their early intensity was punished shortly into the half.
Just over two minutes into the match, Bayern snapped the deadlock and gave Bayer Leverkusen a rude awakening. Jerome Boateng received the ball in the midfield area and delivered a dangerous long ball into Leverkusen’s penalty box. Thomas Muller rose to meet the ball, but Bernd Leno did well to make the initial save.
Bayern Munich took advantage of Leverkusen’s poor man-marking, though. The ball ended up falling courteously toward an oncoming and unmarked Javi Martinez. The Spaniard then promptly and coolly placed the ball into the bottom-right corner.
Things continued to get worse for Leverkusen. Nine minutes into the match, Franck Ribery camee up with a brilliant piece of individual skill to be the catalyst for Bayern’s second goal. The Frenchman picked up possession down the left flank of the pitch and danced around both his markers. Ribery then lofted over a beautiful cross to Robert Lewandowski, who had acres of space to calmly nestle the ball into Leno’s side-netting.
To Leverkusen’s credit, they responded with intense ferocity and made Bayern Munich look fragile on counter-attacks and set-pieces. Eventually, their efforts paid off. A free-kick led to an absolute baffling goal, with the ball bouncing off several Bayern players, left clueless as Lars Bender nodded in beyond Sven Ulreich.
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Bayern begin to play their game in the second half
Bayern’s lazy defending in the first Leverkusen goal will surely be something to clean up before facing Real Madrid. However, the visitors were mostly able to settle the pace of the game down and play their game. But this wasn’t without Bayer Leverkusen exposing some poor individual defending on Bayern’s behalf.
With the tempo of the game slowed down, Bayern began getting more and more comfortable. Seven minutes into the second half, it was Thomas Muller who extended the visitors’ lead. Thiago picked out a peach of a ball for oncoming Muller to tap home past Leno to make it 3-1.
Bayer Leverkusen’s poor man-marking was ultimately the difference-maker of the match. The next goal — from Thiago — was admittedly a controversial one. Arjen Robben tripped over the ball which then fell kindly to the Spaniard who fired into the bottom left corner. Surprisingly, the goal was not reviewed for an offside decision.
But in the end it would not matter. Bayern’s lead only continued to grow, putting the match promptly to rest. Bayern Munich’s fifth came 63 minutes in as Arjen Robben found himself on the end of a Rafinha cross and had his shot deflected into the goal by Muller for his second of the day.
Bayern put an end to the match-up
Leverkusen later got one more consolation goal, and in spectacular fashion. Mats Hummels gifted the opposition with a free-kick after a poor piece of defending. Leverkusen’s young star Leon Bailey, who won the free-kick, stepped up to take it and drilled home a rocket, giving Ulreich no chance.
But if the score wasn’t already tilted enough, Bayern officially put an end to the match. Just over 77 minutes in, Muller earned his hat-trick. A glorious long ball from a Thiago free-kick found Muller once again rushing into the box. After a good piece of control, the Bavarian vice-captain did a full 360-degree turn before finessing home the sixth of the day.
Next: Bayern Munich dominate Bayer Leverkusen in DFB-Pokal -- Player grades
With that, Bayern are now that much closer to the DFB-Pokal and await one of Eintracht Frankfurt or Schalke as their opposition. However, Jupp Heynckes will want to review this match, as the attack was clearly the highlight, but the defense is still not up to scratch. It definitely doesn’t seem prepared for Real Madrid. The world will see if Heynckes has a few more tricks up his sleeve.