When FC Bayern squander a victory they thought was certain in the last second, it is no reason to celebrate for Bayern fans. And yet Thomas Müller had a broad grin, slapped hands with his teammates and initiated a Mexican wave with the away fans. The old hand knew how important the one point was for Bayern’s big goal this season.
Champions or not? Something in between!
Of course it is not official yet, “but we somehow feel like champions,” said Müller – it is something “in between” in light of the nine-point advantage over Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Werkself take on Freiburg on Sunday, but a Leverkusen comeback is unrealistic considering Bayern’s goal difference is 30 goals better. “I don’t think Leverkusen will win 7-0 three times while we lose 5-0 twice,” said Joshua Kimmich. Christoph Freund too was satisfied after the “spectacle” in Leipzig, as he called it. “It’s a bit of a shame we conceded the 3-3 equaliser, but it was still a really awesome match,” commented the Austrian: “And yes, we’re effectively champions.”
For a long time Bayern did not appear to be making significant progress towards their 34th championship title. Benjamin Šeško’s (11’) and Lukas Klostermann’s (39’) goals meant Bayern were two down at half-time. Munich’s performance was not good at first, but they turned things around. “We turned in a poor first-half display, but then we came back with aplomb,” said Max Eberl. The board member for sport thought the positives outweighed the negatives: “We regard the glass as half full because we fought back after being two goals down.”
Fastest double strike since data collection began
And how! Vincent Kompany’s men were rejuvenated after the restart, camping out around the home side’s box. Munich were rewarded for their pressure after the hour mark – propelled by Michael Olise, who, like his teammates, regained his strength after a patchy first half. The Frenchman’s corner invited Eric Dier to head home (62’) before Olise scored the equaliser moments later. Straight from the restart, Aleksandar Pavlović, Serge Gnabry & Co. won the ball back and invited Olise to level the scores. At just 46 seconds between the goals, it was the shortest gap between goals in the Bundesliga since data collection began in 1991.
Heavy rain set in now, just like Munich’s onslaught at the stadium. Munich boasted nine shots to Leipzig’s zero after the restart until Leipzig’s Xavi Simons’ free-kick was a comfortable catch for Jonas Urbig. Bayern had a number of chances but netted only once more when Leroy Sané made it 3-2 in the 83rd minute. It seemed as though Bayern had sealed the title, but there was one last twist, Yussuf Poulsen (90’+4) scoring the goal that meant FCB were only quasi-champions on Saturday.
If Leverkusen do not squander any more points, Bayern will have to banish any last lingering doubts on the last two matchdays, which is more than likely in light of their fightback in Leipzig. “The team always believed in themselves despite being two goals down, which shows what potential the squad has and how alive it is,” Vincent Kompany said in praise of his team: “As a coach you always want perfection, and that wasn’t the case today, in the first half in particular,” but “at the end of the day the afternoon was almost perfect,” analysed the 39-year-old, adding: “We saw perhaps the best moments of the season in the second half.”
A party at home, then
Hopefully they will not have been the last nice moments this season – Bayern aim to celebrate the title in front of their own fans after the match against Mönchengladbach next week.
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