Bayer Leverkusen opened the 62nd Bundesliga campaign with a 3-2 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. … [+] Florian Wirtz scored the 111th minute winner. (Photo by Hesham Elsherif/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The 62nd Bundesliga season kicked off just as the 61st Bundesliga season ended all too often, with a very late Bayer Leverkusen win. This time, it took until the 11th minute of extra time for Florian Wirtz to score the winner as he put away the rebound of his missed penalty.
Before the penalty, Gladbach had done everything to take at least two points of the German champions. After Leverkusen made it 2-0 thanks to goals by Granit Xhaka (12’) and Wirtz (38’), Gladbach mounted a comeback. The Foals made it 2-2 thanks to goals by Nico Elvedi (59’) and new signing Tim Kleindienst (85’).
Kleindienst, in fact, thought he had scored in the first half but fouled Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie before heading the ball across the line. “They checked everything against us,” Gladbach managing director of sport Roland Virkus said. “There wasn’t a single situation they checked in our favor.”
That, too, is more of the same old, as the 2023/24 season flips to the 2024/25 season. There are endless debates about VAR.
Gladbach fans won’t like to hear it, though. The only true criticism that could be voiced against referee Robert Schröder is that he used VAR in the first place for both decisions. The foul on Hincapie ahead of Kleindienst’s first-half goal and the foul on Amine Adli deep into injury time were evident in real time and should have been called immediately.
“I can understand why a game-deciding decision leads to discussions,” Schröder said after the game before explaining his decision to give the penalty. “But he doesn’t play the ball and instead the opponent; by the law, that’s a foul.”
The decisions were right, but the time it took to make them can be rightfully criticized. The referee team took five minutes to decide on the Kleindienst situation.
Indeed, three VAR decisions took longer than necessary to check. Those checks, plus the pyrotechnic show unleashed by Gladbach, meant that we had 11 minutes of injury time, giving Leverkusen enough time to win this game, after all.
Florian Wirtz scored a brace to secure his club all three points. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
The refereeing decisions aside, the stats underline that Leverkusen more than deserved the victory. Leverkusen finished the game with 54% possession, 604 vs 446 passes, and an xG of 4.01 vs. 2.19. Perhaps the only point of criticism towards Alonso’s side is that they didn’t finish off the opponent a bit faster.
On the flipside, there are also plenty of positives to take away from Gladbach’s perspective. New signings Kevin Stöger and Kleindienst looked dangerous throughout the match. Kleindienst, in particular, seems poised to create a hazardous partnership with up-and-coming German national team star Rocco Reitz.
Of course, Gladbach’s story is well documented. For years, the Foals have been Bayern Munich’s bogey team, showing up for those two fixtures while playing otherwise unmemorable seasons. In other words, Gladbach will need to show that they can display this kind of performance week in and week out.
That is also a good lesson for Leverkusen. Die Werkself is now the team everyone in the Bundesliga wants to beat. That means that every match will feel like a cup final, as opponents will bring their A-game.
Bayern Munich, Leverkusen’s biggest title rival, has relished this for almost a decade. Indeed, as the Bundesliga kicks off, Der Rekordmeister remains the biggest title contender for Leverkusen.
Bayern’s sometimes chaotic transfer summer means they won’t be the only one challenging Leverkusen. With their new additions of Maxi Beier, Serhou Guirassy, Pascal Groß, and Waldemar Anton, Dortmund looks significantly improved. RB Leipzig, in the meantime, has compensated Dani Olmo’s departure by signing Antonio Nusa.
Then there is always one surprise team to reckon with—that surprise team could be last year’s surprise team VfB Stuttgart. Although Stuttgart lost Guirassy Anton to Dortmund, the club has made some significant signings as well and took Leverkusen all the way last weekend in the DFL Supercup.
Of course, Leverkusen won the Supercup by scoring late. Indeed, their uncanny domestic undefeated run has now been stretched to 53 games. It is a record run, and as Leverkusen continues to look unbeatable, they also remain the favorites to win the Bundesliga title.
