Bayern Munich brought an end to the winless streak in the Bundesliga that lasted over a month on Friday against Bayer Leverkusen. Goals from Jamal Musiala, Sadio Mane, Thomas Muller, and Leroy Sane helped Bayern to clinch a thumping victory against Leverkusen at Allianz Arena.
Julian Nagelsmann decided to go with a fluid front four of Mane, Muller, Musiala, and Sane, as we had predicted in our match preview. Meanwhile, Marcel Sabitzer was preferred in the midfield over Leon Goretzka. The rest of the line-up was as expected by taking injuries and form into account.
Die Roten started slowly in each of their previous four league games, which allowed the opposition to settle down. However, Leverkusen was not given the luxury to settle down on Friday. The hosts showed great intensity in pressing during the initial phase of the game. They managed to make the early pressure count by scoring in the third minute.
Musiala was at the heart of the move as he went past the defender on the right flank and found Sane in the box with a pinpoint cross. Sane collected the ball with a beautiful touch and hammered it past the goalkeeper. Leverkusen couldn’t recover from this early goal.
Bayern continued to weave attacking moves at a healthy rate after getting the first goal. They managed to double the lead in the 17th minute, courtesy of a venomous strike by Musiala. Upamecano played a well-placed long pass to find Musiala’s run on the right flank. The youngster played a one-two with Muller before unleashing a thunderous shot at the goal.
The Bavarian club was in complete ascendancy despite having a couple of worrying moments in their box. They managed to put the game past Leverkusen by scoring the third goal in the 39th minute. Sadio Mane ended his goal drought that lasted over five games by scuffing a shot in the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Musiala once again played a pivotal role as he grabbed the assist for Bayern’s third goal.
The hosts controlled the game throughout the second half. Mane had the ball in the net around the hour mark, but it was disallowed due to a foul by Matthijs de Ligt in the buildup of the goal. Bayern managed to pin Leverkusen down in their half to make sure that the visiting side doesn’t have the chance to mount a comeback.
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Thomas Muller provided the icing on the cake by scoring the fourth goal late in the game. The German forward capitalized on a poor pass from Lukas Hradecky. Muller calmly slotted the ball in the empty goal to make it 4-0 for Bayern. It was a perfect response from Die Roten after a poor run of form in the past four Bundesliga gameweeks. Nagelsmann will be hoping that the win against Leverkusen begins a winning run that will last until the start of the World Cup in November.