Despite 3-1 Defeat To RB Leipzig, Bayern Still Believe In The Title

The unthinkable has happened, Bayern Munich has dropped all three points in dramatic fashion in a 3-1 defeat to RB Leipzig to open the door for Dortmund to win the title race. And the most frustrating part for Bayern fans? It seemed very much unnecessary.

In fact, Bayern started the game in a dominant fashion and took the lead through a brilliant strike by Serge Gnabry (25’). In many ways, it was not surprising that Gnabry was leading the charge; the forward has been brilliant in recent weeks. And his team seemed to follow because, in the next ten minutes, it seemed that Bayern would storm to a big win, putting together chance after chance without scoring.

But rather than putting the game away, Leipzig somehow managed to crawl back into the match. Of course, it would all fall apart in the second half, but you could see it coming in the last 15 minutes of the first half when Dominik Szoboszlai had two big chances to equalize.

“We started well,” Bayern head coach Thomas Tuchel said after the game. “We took the lead and could’ve added a second. We stopped playing after 30 minutes.”

Then in the second half, Leipzig’s boss made one significant change, taking off Mohamed Simakan for Benjamin Henrichs. That little tactical adjustment was enough to take out Serge Gnabry and João Cancelo and essentially shut down the Bayern machine.

“We weren’t there in the second half,” Tuchel said. “I have no explanation. We’re coming off a good phase; I see the spirit in the team in training. I have no explanation for that.” And Tuchel was right. Bayern was nonexistent in the second half, and in the 65th minute, Leipzig equalized from a counter that preceded a Bayern corner. Fittingly Konrad Laimer, who will join Bayern Munich this summer, was the scorer.

“We were 1-0 up and then conceded a goal from our own corner kick—that speaks volumes,” Bayern’s Thomas Müller said after the game. “The second half, if you look at it, the three goals against us—it’s not like we were outplayed. We invited RB with our own mistakes. Two penalties and a goal from a corner.”

Müller is not wrong. Leipzig didn’t outplay Bayern. But Leipzig put in a ruthless performance; every counter-attack felt like a potential goal, and Bayern made significant mistakes in defense.

One of those mistakes led to Leipzig’s lead in the 76th minute when Benjamin Pavard brought down Christopher Nkunku. Nkunku stepped up and gave Leipzig the lead. Then in the 84th minute, Nkunku escaped again but could not get past goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

Not that it mattered because in the 84th minute, Noussair Mazraoui handled the ball in the box following a Leipzig corner, and referee Deniz Aytekin had no choice but decide on another penalty. This time Szoboszlai stepped up to score and secure Leipzig a phenomenal 3-1 win at the Allianz Arena.

“This happened many times this season,” Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn said after the game when asked about Bayern’s performance after the 1-0 lead. “It feels like everything is falling apart. You don’t have the feeling we could do anything after the equalizer, and we no longer have it in our hands. That is bitter. We’re deeply disappointed we gave this opportunity away.”

But is this the end of the title race? Dortmund now has it in their own hands and can end Bayern’s dominance with two wins in their final two games. The Black and Yellows will be in action on Sunday not far from the Allianz in Augsburg, where they must win to go first. “BVB
VB
still has to win their games,” Müller said. “It’s not over yet. I’ve experienced a lot. I still believe.”

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcastand the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth