Farcical failures for Bundesliga big boys underline European pressures | Andy Brassell

After all the big moments, the daring comebacks, the thrilling crescendos, it felt like they had finally run out of road. Having both been substituted, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong sat on the visitors’ bench at the Allianz Arena as time ticked down, a seat apart, both yelling, maybe at each other, maybe just into the ether. Finally Wirtz covered his face with his hands.

Of all the images of last week’s all-German Champions League last-16 match between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, this was the one that stuck. Frustration is to be expected, particularly in the dying embers of a bad defeat against a domestic and European rival, but this was something that we have rarely seen from Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen. Setbacks happen, but he and his players have always maintained their poise, knowing that their path is the right one and that an answer is coming. This time? Maybe not.

Fast forward and that feeling is even more entrenched. Saturday’s home loss to Werder Bremen was not only a surprise but a second successive defeat in which Leverkusen looked far from themselves. Worse still, it was a day on which they could have feasibly breathed new life into the title race, given Bayern’s own home defeat – barely believably, against Bochum. Yes, Bochum have improbably caused Bayern a few problems in recent years, beating them twice at Vonovia Ruhrstadion (although Vincent Kompany’s team swept to a 5-0 win there in autumn), but this was on Bayern’s patch. Two of Bochum’s last three visits to Munich had ended in 7-0 defeats. If Kompany was going to change almost an entire starting lineup before a Champions League match of capital importance, this felt like a safe time to do it.

Instead, the gap at the top remains eight points and – improbably after such a shambolic display – Bayern go into Tuesday’s trip north further buoyed, as well as with their 3-0 lead. Bild’s headline – “Embarrassing Bayern laugh at Leverkusen” – summed it up. The champions were given the assist of dreams and were unable to profit. The eight-point gap, fatal as it may prove to Die Werkself’s chances of retaining their title, never felt like it was knocking them off course. Now the faith is really being tested, with the coach even openly questioning himself.

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“Everything was bad today,” sighed Alonso. “The game was bad. My decisions were not good.” He paused before adding his disappointment that “we missed this chance” but with Alonso it is always about the process yielding the results, rather than the other way round. For the first time it feels as if the steering has gone awry. Alonso’s reflections on what set his team to fail against Werder could easily have been the reactions after that first leg at Bayern, when hope was all but extinguished in a second half beset by careless errors – Matej Kovar’s handling error, Nordi Mukiele’s second yellow, Edmond Tapsoba’s needless concession of a penalty – but really underpinned by the coach’s selection choices.

That was the second straight game against Bayern in which Alonso chose to leave Patrik Schick and Victor Boniface on the bench, and it is clear he prefers non-fixed-point forwards against their biggest rivals du jour. Yet while that arguably stopped them winning February’s Bundesliga encounter, it left Leverkusen gravely prone to transitions in the opening leg. These players trust in the coach as much as it is possible and they have always been repaid until now. “It was an emotionally bitter blow on Wednesday,” admitted goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, before adding about his own contestable Champions League omission: “Whether you played or not, that stays in your mood.” That feeling of hopelessness was augmented on Saturday by the ankle injury to Wirtz which will keep him out for several weeks.

It is all context, of course. Bayern’s display was fraught with uncustomary nerves betraying – even with such a handsome lead – their focus on Leverkusen. They led 2-0 against Bochum via Raphaël Guerreiro’s brace before Jakov Medic pulled one back and João Palhinha was sent off (harshly for many, though his studs left a sizeable wound on Giorgos Masouras’s ankle) before half-time. Even after Matus Bero’s winner, the visitors could have had more.

Jonas Urbig, the 21-year-old in his first top-flight game, largely stood between Dieter Hecking’s lowly visitors and a bigger win; and Urbig, of course, was playing only because Manuel Neuer injured himself celebrating Jamal Musiala’s goal against Leverkusen, a ridiculous incident which would have been disastrous in a different situation. Yet Bayern have been spared. “If you do the maths now,” smiled Max Eberl, “we have gained a goal [on Leverkusen].” It will take something monumental for Leverkusen to continue their European run this week. It is worth Alonso and company remembering, though, that Bayern’s nerves are clear. They are just obscured right now by Leverkusen’s much bigger wobble.

Talking points

After taking over a team with just a solitary point by the start of November and losing three of his first four games in charge, Hecking has gradually transformed Bochum’s prospects, with the helping hand of two points confirmed to be added on last week after the missile-throwing incident at Union Berlin. On the pitch, Hecking’s previous no-hopers have now taken 16 points from the last 12 games, moving them up into the relegation playoff spot.

The big winners from the weekend, though, were one of the two teams that kicked it off; Mainz, whose win at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday lifted them to third, a place they held on to after Union’s surprising comeback win at previous incumbents Eintracht Frankfurt (sealed by Frederik Rønnow’s last-gasp penalty save from Hugo Ekitike). Bo Henriksen’s team set the seal on their win with a magnificent goal from in-form captain Nadiem Amiri – described by sporting director as “one of the most exceptional players to have ever played for Mainz” – who must be close to a Germany recall after a near-five-year absence. Amiri himself ducked the question and focused on his side’s increasingly jaw-dropping season. “I really don’t have the words for this team,” he said.

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New shirts, same old show for Dortmund. The new neon special jersey recalling their 1997 Champions League winners was debuted at home to Augsburg, but the miserable performance which produced a 1-0 defeat underlined that it will take more than a kit change to inspire this team before the return with Lille on Wednesday – at this point, it seems futile to talk about the Bundesliga’s top four, with BVB seven points adrift and glued to 10th place. Niko Kovac already seems at a bit of a loss, sending his players on a long run in Sunday training after a match in which they created next to nothing. At present, it feels like their trip to northern France might be their last Euro jaunt for a while.

Leipzig are benefiting from BVB’s continuing woes, a 0-0 draw at Freiburg leaving them three points behind fourth place but extending their current sequence to 339 minutes without scoring away. Marco Rose is still in situ for now but another setback against Dortmund next weekend would be hard to surmount.

Source: theguardian.com