After a three-month summer break, the 2017-18 Bundesliga season finally kicked off at Munich’s Allianz Arena as Bayern Munich began defense of their Bundesliga title against Bayer Leverkusen. Both teams have new looks. Top scorer Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez left Leverkusen, taking his prodigious goal scoring back to England to play for West Ham. Midfielder Sven Bender joined his twin brother Lars from Borussia Dortmund. Heiko Herrlich is Leverkusen’s new coach, who replaced interim coach Tayfun Korkut [who replaced Roger Schmidt, whom Leverkusen sacked after getting thrashed by Borussia Dortmund 6-2 last year]. Bayern Munich also have some new faces - Sebastian Rudy and Niklas Süle signed from Hoffenheim, French midfielder Corentin Tolisso [signed from French club Lyon], and Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez is on loan from Real Madrid. Bayern lost Phillip Lahm and Xabi Alonso to retirement. The Video Assisted Referee [VAR] made its debut the in Bundesliga regular season.
Bayern’s summer acquisitions are already paying dividends. The Hoffenheim Connection got Bayern on the board first. New guys Sebastian Rudy and Niklas Süle connected for the first goal in the 10th minute. Leverkusen’s Domink Kohr picked up his first yellow card of the new season with a hard foul on Franck Ribéry. After Bayern were awarded the free kick, Sebastian Rudy lofted the kick into the Leverkusen penalty area, and 6’5” defender Niklas Süle made the header which gave Bayern the early lead. Bayern team captain Manuel Neuer is still recovering from a broken foot he suffered against Real Madrid in UEFA Champions League last spring. Leverkusen had their chances. Macedonian striker Admir Mehmedi forced a save from Bayern backup goalie Sven Ulreich and Karim Bellarabi put the follow-up wide, almost equalizing in the 11th minute.
In the 18th minute Bayern made it 2-0. Leverkusen showed they are still having problems with the set piece plays as Corentin Tolisso made his Bundesliga debut, scoring his first Bundesliga goal on a header from a corner kick play [the assist from Arturo Vidal]. Four minutes later Tolisso nearly got his second goal, hitting a cross off the woodwork that almost found Robert Lewandowsky.
To start the second half, Leverkusen substituted Julian Brandt for Leon Bailey, and Aleksandar Dragovic for Sven Bender. Leverkusen came out attacking to begin the second half. The VAR made its presence felt in the 52nd minute when Robert Lewandowski was pulled down by Charles Aranguiz in the Leverkusen penalty area. Upon review, Lewandowski was awarded a penalty shot, which he converted to give Bayern a 3-0 lead. Julian Brandt took his first shot on goal in the 55th minute, but the shot went wide right. More substitutions came in the– Bayern’s Arjen Robben came on for Thomas Müller 61st minute, Leverkusen’s Kevin Kampl came on for Charles Aranguiz at the same time, while Rafinha came on for Mats Hummels two minutes later.
Leverkusen finally got on the board in the 65th minute after Julian Brandt [from the penalty spot] found Admir Mehmedi, who hammered a thunderbolt of a goal past Bayern goalie Sven Ulreich. Domink Kohr nearly made it 3-2, just barely missing a chance off a Leverkusen free kick in the 72nd minute. Bayern substituted Kingsley Coman for Franck Ribéry in the 77th minute.
With Manuel Neuer not providing his usual sweeper-keeper excellence, Sven Ulreich is proving susceptible to challenges from the opposing team. He’s not as good with his feet as Neuer. Ulreich made the saves when he needed to, but he doesn’t quite provide that security blanket the Bayern is used to with Neuer in goal. That’s not quite fair to Ulreich since Neuer is one of the best goalies in the world today, but that’s what Bayern must contend with until his return. Leverkusen had their chances to score but couldn’t capitalize on Bayern’s defensive lapses. There were at least three times when Leverkusen should have scored but didn’t. Leverkusen played better at the beginning of the second half, but Bayern settled things down and in the end, Bayern prevailed 3-1.
The weather was absolute crap. A torrential downpour drenched both sides just before halftime. As a result, the beginning of the second half was delayed for 10 minutes.
Next week Bayern travel to Werder Bremen, while Leverkusen hosts Hoffenheim.
As always, in-studio hostess Kate Abdo was stunning. 😊
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