PLAYER RATINGS | Bayern Munich 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen – Leverkusen scrap a draw after a dominate Bayern performance

In their first meeting of the season, and a true heavyweight clash, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich play out a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena.

It was all Bayern in the first half as they dominated the ball for the whole half and Leverkusen never really got a sight of the ball. However, Bayern never really troubled Lukas Hradecky either and then the visitors took the lead when an Aleksander Pavlovic back pass went out for a corner and Robert Andrich scored from range once the resultant corner was cleared.

Despite taking the lead, Leverkusen was never able to get a foothold of the game and Bayern equalised when Pavlovic shot from distance and beat Hradecky.

Bayern would continue to dominate the game when the second half came around and had several decent chances to take the lead with Michael Olise being denied by Hradecky and Serge Gnabry hitting the woodwork twice. Die Werkself again struggled to challenge Manuel Neuer on the opposite end.

Takeaways:

Leverkusen will be the team happiest with the result. Defensively they have improved a lot compared to their last couple of games and to hold off such a dominant Bayern side for 90 minutes will give them a boost in confidence. However, on the attacking end they were lacking which will be an area Xabi Alonso will have to work on when the teams meet again in the new year.

While in their first big test under Vincent Kompany, Bayern were impressive in their ability to dominate Leverkusen in the way that they did, never letting them trouble Neuer. This game is the first of a difficult run of fixtures for Bayern as next weekend they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt after a midweek game against Aston Villa.

Bayern Munich XI: 

Manuel Neuer (5), Raphaël Guerreiro (6), Dayot Upamecano (6), Kim Min-Jae (6), Alphonso Davies (6), Aleksander Pavlovic (7), Joshua Kimmich (6), Michael Olise (6), Jamal Musiala (6), Serge Gnabry (6), Harry Kane (5)

Others: Kingsley Coman (5), Leroy Sané (6), Konard Laimer (5), Thomas Müller (-)

Bayer Leverkusen XI:

Lukas Hradecky (6), Edmond Tapsoba (6), Jonathan Tah (6), Piero Hincapié (6), Jeremie Frimpong (5), Granit Xhaka (5), Robert Andrich (6), Alejandro Grimaldo (5), Martin Terrier (5), Florian Wirtz (5), Victor Boniface (5)

Others: Amine Adli (5), Nathan Tella (5), Exequiel Palacios (-), Jeanuël Belocian (-)

GGFN Man of the Match: Aleksander Pavlovic (7)

The midfielder’s backpass to Neuer which went out for a corner which Leverkusen scored from, would normally knock a player down, but not Pavlovic. The 20-year-old immediately replied with his own long-range effort, but away from his goal contribution, Pavlovic showed once again why he is such a special talent as in a high-pressure game he always looked cool and composed on the ball. While is form and performances have kept summer signing Joǎo Palhinha out of the side.

GGFN | Jack Meenan