Bayern Munich v Leverkusen has been a great rivalry. But is it over? | Bundesliga

Early on Sunday night Bayern Munich’s gamers arrived a couple of at a time in a graceful restaurant that had been opened only for them, as they ready to commemorate a thirty third Bundesliga title (34 in the event you embody the pre-Bundesliga crown of 1932) not fairly as they’d hoped, of their avenue garments quite than their soccer strips. Bild even claimed that as Freiburg took the lead late within the first half in opposition to Bayer Leverkusen on the large display in entrance of the Bayern squad (a sport the 2024 champions wanted to win to mathematically extend the race) there was a loud exclamation of “Scheiße!” from at the least one participant who had wished Bayern to formally end the job themselves at dwelling to Borussia Mönchengladbach subsequent Saturday.

It had not fairly been the titanic finish that anyone had hoped for, with Bayern letting in a Ninety fifth-minute Yussuf Poulsen equaliser that stopped them formally sealing it on Saturday, Harry Kane suspended so he couldn’t participate in any respect and Leverkusen getting a leveller within the fourth minute of stoppage time at Freiburg on Sunday which ended up which means little to anybody other than the hosts and their rivals for Champions League qualification.

It did, nonetheless, epitomise the battle. There will likely be some who search to decrease the achievements of Bayern, of Kane regardless of profitable his first main trophy, of Vincent Kompany in his first season of elite-level head teaching, crying out that the home all the time wins. But the context is all the pieces. Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen have turned the Bundesliga the wrong way up within the final two and a half years. Even the primary 12 months of Kane within the Bundesliga wasn’t sufficient to disclaim them. It has taken England’s captain being joined by the magnificent Michael Olise, the continued development of Jamal Musiala (absolutely now the Bundesliga’s finest participant) and the unlikely affect of Kompany, evolving the Bayern setting into one thing barely extra holistic, to revive a established order of kinds.

Seeing Bayern with a worthy opponent for the primary time since Jürgen Klopp introduced Borussia Dortmund to the highest has been exhilarating. The sense is, although, that Alonso’s touchline celebration of Jonathan Tah’s equaliser in Freiburg – large smile, little leap, clenched fist – may need simply stated all of it. He wasn’t celebrating what it was however what had been, in that unimaginable final season however in nearly each second since his October 2022 arrival, propelling Die Werkself from the underside to greater than the place they thought the highest was, shredding each notion of inconceivable alongside the best way. Tah’s flicked header was a reminder of all these late comebacks, the inconceivable result-from-the-jaws-of-defeat moments that stacked up final season and even, semi-regularly, this time period. But faraway from any type of actual sporting which means for the staff it felt like a tribute, a nod to what coach and gamers had achieved collectively which, it looks like, is coming to an finish.

And it has felt like that for some time. Alonso is extensively anticipated to switch Carlo Ancelotti at Actual Madrid, with membership and coach in Nord Rhine-Westphalia sitting in limbo till the phrases and the timings of the Italian’s departure for the Spanish capital are agreed. “Hand on coronary heart,” sighed Granit Xhaka after Sunday’s sport, “I believe it’s simpler for each staff, for each participant, when you recognize who’s going to be on the sidelines subsequent 12 months. However that shouldn’t be an excuse for the previous few weeks.” Xhaka lamented the scratchy kind and missed alternatives which have adopted Champions League elimination by Bayern. The previous Arsenal man, now Leverkusen’s unofficial spokesman, non-mincer of phrases and Alonso’s authority on the sector, couldn’t keep away from a way of finality whilst he stated that he hoped the coach would keep. “We had him for 2 years,” stated the captain. “Whether or not now we have him for a 3rd 12 months just isn’t my job to say. However it doesn’t matter what occurs, we had a good time.”

So what subsequent? It isn’t solely Alonso’s future that lies on the coronary heart of the equation however that of Florian Wirtz. Since getting back from the muscle harm that undercut the cash stretch of Leverkusen’s season the No 10 has been in need of his imperious finest and he was quiet on Sunday afternoon – proper up till the second the place he wasn’t, skating previous a brace of challenges and steering in a fantastic shot from the sting of the field to tug his staff again into the sport and mount the platform for that subsequent late comeback.

If there was one second that outlined this season, the battle between Bayern and Leverkusen and the future of the title, it was again in mid-February with Wirtz once more on the centre. It was the primary minute of stoppage time between the 2 groups on the BayArena and with the rating goalless and Manuel Neuer having simply blocked an effort from Amine Adli. It fell to Wirtz, surrounded by visitors within the Bayern space. Site visitors that he managed to extricate himself from within the blink of a watch. All that remained was the of entirety however staggeringly, he put it extensive. A hush fell over the stadium; everybody knew that was the second. It will have shortened an eight-point result in 5 however whatever the numbers, it by no means actually felt as if Leverkusen bought that shut once more, both in Bundesliga or in that Champions League tie through which Bayern crushed their hopes and their spirit in time-honoured trend.

Earlier than lacking that probability in February’s TopSpiel, Wirtz had commanded the sport. Bayern couldn’t get close to him. It had seemed as if the 22-year-old’s reign would proceed, together with his future not tied to Alonso’s and the contours of an prolonged contract broadly agreed. But as with Alonso, the months have passed by with the sound of silence changing into extra deafening. Now Bayern are making ready for his or her push, set to dip into their reserve money to pair Wirtz with Musiala regardless of their costly contract renewals of spring. That will be a tragic finish to a satisfying tussle for supremacy within the Bundesliga, which has been so in each the direct confrontations and at a distance. It may survive the exit of Alonso, however not of Wirtz as properly.

Speaking factors

A extra inconceivable return to the established order is that of Dortmund coming to inside touching distance of a return to the Champions League. Niko Kovac’s staff continued their sizzling streak and their return from the wilderness with a 4-0 thrashing of Wolfsburg which lifted them to fourth in a single day on Saturday, though Freiburg reclaimed that remaining Champions League spot with their Sunday level. With two video games to go, it’s on.

After the humbling at Sign Iduna Park, an eighth straight sport with out a win, Ralph Hasenhüttl was fired, with Wolfsburg drifting in mid-table meaninglessness.

Poulsen’s aim, by the best way, was far more than simply an irritant to Bayern. It was probably important for Leipzig, now in sixth however solely two factors behind Freiburg as a battle royale for the highest 4 is ready up. For Freiburg’s Julian Schuster to make it in his debut season could be sensational – however they journey subsequent to Holstein Kiel, the staff that refuse to go down and pulled off a superb 3-1 win at Augsburg this weekend to maintain alive their probability of getting the relegation playoff spot (Kiel additionally journey to Dortmund, who they beat in January, on the ultimate day).

Jonathan Burkhardt’s equaliser for Mainz stopped Eintracht Frankfurt getting the win they wanted to clinch prime 4 in Sunday’s late sport however they want an absolute most of two factors to ensure.