Gladbach. The new season of the German Bundesliga began the way the previous one ended: with a very late victory for Bayer Leverkusen. This time it took until the 101st minute before the defending champions were able to celebrate their 3-2 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach after Florian Wirtz’s penalty follow-up shot. It was only after a VAR check that a penalty was awarded.
The 13 minutes of stoppage time had become necessary because of the use of pyrotechnics. The game had already had everything to offer before that. Xhaka (12th) and Wirtz (38th) gave Leverkusen a 2-0 lead, with Boniface hitting the crossbar in between. After that, things got heated: First, the supposed 1-2 by Kleindienst was disallowed for a foul after VAR intervention (42nd).
When Elvedi made it 1-2, an offside position was also checked for a long time before the goal was counted. The assist for the goal was provided by Upper Austrian Kevin Stöger, who also set up Kleindienst’s 2-2 goal in the finish (85′).
Bayern will start in Wolfsburg on Sunday. It is an unusual date for the record champions: The Munich team were used to kicking off the season on Friday as defending champions. That is not the only thing that is different. Experts are giving double winners Leverkusen the role of favorite, while Bayern are seen as challengers. Sports director Max Eberl and sports director Christoph Freund surprised everyone with an unusual approach for Bayern: they did without star power in order to reinforce their claim to the title.
After a few cancellations, Vincent Kompany is now in charge as coach. At Bayern, Kompany can once again practice this style from a dominant position. ÖFB team player Konrad Laimer is actually ideally suited for this, but the Salzburg player is currently in a difficult position.
Joao Palhinha was a competitor from Fulham, who, like Michael Olise, played for Crystal Palace under Oliver Glasner last season, cost more than 50 million euros. Hiroki Ito was also brought in from runner-up Stuttgart for 23.5 million euros. Josip Stanisic returned to Leverkusen as a champion after his loan spell. Leipzig and Dortmund are outsiders in the title race.
