Leverkusen must correct deficits to keep goalless Bayern at bay | Bundesliga

SSaturday May 12, 2012. Not just a disappointing result, but the final humiliation in a season full of them. On that day, Bayern Munich became the giant that dominated the Bundesliga for more than a decade.

The result was one thing. The fact that it was against Borussia Dortmund, their medium-term nuisance, was something different. But a 2:5 defeat in the DFB Cup final? It was too much. It was reminiscent of the moment in Richard Linklater's “Dazed and Confused” when freshmen Mitch and Carl peek through the door to laugh at the elder O'Bannion after Mitch's mother used her shotgun to force him back from the lawn while he preparing to give them introductory licks with his bat. Their cheeky, late farewell drives O'Bannion over the edge and he promises them revenge with a tirade of profanities. Similarly, Dortmund's victory lap in the cup final against defeated Bayern not only left them vowing revenge, but also vowing to make it long and painful.

Twelve years later, Bayer Leverkusen travel to Bavaria for tea this Saturday to find out how hard they poked the bear themselves. Xabi Alonso's side have so far only taken one Bundesliga title from Bayern (and not Dortmund's two in a row under Jürgen Klopp), but they have done it with a confidence that even that Record champions (The record champions) have never been able to keep up. Leverkusen's unbeaten 2023/24 Bundesliga season was the first in the competition's history and a run put together with exceptional vigor. There's a reason why Alonso was Bayern's first port of call in their long search for a coach in the summer, and that's only partly because of his playing history with the club. Just winning isn't enough for Bayern, and hasn't been for a long time.

However, if Bayern's goal (as much as they don't want to admit it publicly) is to become more like Leverkusen this season, the truth is that the champions are becoming more and more like the youngest incarnations of Bayern. On the surface, everything looks good for Alonso and Co The Werkself (the Fabrik-Elf) second, having recovered from their first Bundesliga defeat in 462 days against RB Leipzig with two wins in a row thanks to eight goals.

The reality is that Leverkusen relies heavily on individual talent to cover up collective deficits. Florian Wirtz started the season brilliantly and scored more than one goal per game. That is the form of the Ballon d'Or, but in recent times this award has often been decided on the performances of the team surrounding the player in question, and Wirtz could be left in the lurch in the face of a team lacking collective discipline.

The defensive cracks that opened late last season with the title win have become huge, ugly cracks. Leverkusen conceded nine goals in their first four Bundesliga games and 24 in the entire last season. “Nine goals conceded is of course too many,” complained Alonso after last weekend’s 4-3 win against Wolfsburg. “If we continue like this, we don’t have much chance of achieving anything big.”

Granit Xhaka is Alonso's representative on the pitch and he doubled his efforts without being asked. “We call ourselves a top team,” said the midfielder, “but a top team doesn’t concede three goals in 45 minutes.” Leverkusen’s defensive problems play a big role given Bayern’s goalscoring form, with Michael Olise playing excellently alongside Harry Kane and Co. harmonizes.

Luckily, Xhaka delivers the truth when it's needed. “We expect leadership qualities from him,” said sports director Simon Rolfes in the current Amazon Prime documentary about the club’s record season, “that he can be unpleasant at the right moment and bring fire to the team.”

If a wave of anger can motivate, there is plenty of distance elsewhere between the regular champions and the defending champions. There are the consequences of Leverkusen managing director Fernando Carro's leaked criticism of Bayern's sporting director Max Eberl, the cause of which was apparently Eberl's public disapproval of Leverkusen's signing of Wirtz from the Cologne academy, not to mention the discussed (and lengthy) move to the Bayern for failed defender Jonathan Tah. But Leverkusen know that they have to be significantly stronger on Saturday afternoon in order to further expand this rivalry.