Grimaldo and Bayer Leverkusen send title greetings to FC Bayern

A great free kick from Alejandro Grimaldo gave Bayer Leverkusen a win against Mainz 05, the Spaniard scored the only goal in the 48th minute in the 1-0 (0-0) duel between the two teams in the Superserien. The double winner is still on the heels of FC Bayern Munich.

“We are very happy. Grimaldo’s goal helped us a lot, then we defended with great concentration and deserved to win”said Granit Xhaka in the Sportschau interview after the game. “You have to stay patient against an opponent like that. I think we played a great game for 90 minutes. We now have to collect our points and in the end we’ll see what happens next. We’re on a very good path and hopefully we’ll be there rewarded at the end of the season.”

Leverkusen and Mainz in great form

One team had won nine competitive games in a row, the other had recently taken 18 out of 21 possible points in the Bundesliga – Leverkusen against Mainz, although the names may not sound so spectacular, was the undisputed top game of this matchday. This encounter also earned this status with the duel between the two currently best scorers in the league – which, however, ended after less than three minutes.

Sieve for Burkardt – like against FC Bayern

Jonathan Burkardt is one of the main people responsible for the surprisingly strong season for Mainz, who even secured a place in the Champions League for the first time with their win last weekend against VfL Bochum (2-0) in fourth place. The 27-year-old had scored seven goals since matchday 10, two again against Bochum – but in Leverkusen he only managed that many minutes.

In the third minute, Burkardt had to leave the field with a muscle injury and Armindo Sieb came on to replace him. Perhaps a consolation for the guests: In mid-December, the loanee from FC Bayern Munich had to replace Burkardt early, in the 15th minute – and Mainz then celebrated a 2-1 win including two assists. Against FC Bayern.

Schick narrowly missed his twelfth goal

The fact that Leverkusen has now moved back to within four points of the record champions in the title race (and initially to one point after the Mainz game) is also due to the fact that Patrik Schick is the only striker who has been more successful since matchday 10 Burkardt was – the Czech had even scored all of his eleven goals this season in the six appearances since then. And at the start of the year, Schick also scored a brace against Borussia Dortmund (3:2).

And shortly after Burkardt was substituted, only a few centimeters were missing and Schick should have been able to celebrate again. After a mistake in the Mainz build-up game, the Bayer striker went around the opposing goalkeeper Robin Zentner and pushed the ball towards the empty goal from a very tight angle, but Andreas Hanche-Olsen was able to scratch it off the line at the last moment (7th).

Bayer is pressing, Mainz remains stable

As a result, Leverkusen’s patience was put to the test. Coach Xabi Alonso’s team had the ball almost the entire time and let it circulate between the halfway line and the opponent’s penalty area, but they almost never got into the really dangerous areas. Mainz defended strongly and showed with one or two dangerous counterattacks that Leverkusen had to be careful defensively. The double winner didn’t find a winning method for a long time.

It only became dangerous again in the 41st minute when Florian Wirtz tried from 20 meters and forced Zentner into a brilliant save. Shortly before the break, the Mainz keeper held strong against Grimaldo from a similar distance (45th + 2).

Grimaldo presents his outstanding shooting technique

Shortly after the break he showed how much quality the Spanish international has in his left foot. Grimaldo took the free kick from 18 meters and he sank it with a top spin shot right next to the post and completely unstoppable for Zentner in the Mainz goal – the 1-0 (48th). It was a goal that probably only Leverkusen’s left winger can score in the Bundesliga.

Grimaldo and his colleagues needed help from their goalkeeper immediately afterwards. After a corner, Jae-Sung Lee got the first shot for Mainz, but Matej Kovar, who was once again able to play for Lukas Hradecky, dived and made the save – and the angle then became too acute for Anthony Caci (50th). Against Kaishu Sano, Kovar showed again why Alonso keeps giving him opportunities like he did against Mainz (57th).

Zentner prevented Bayer’s second goal several times

On the other hand, Zentner also made amends with Wirtz’s long-range shot (61′). It was initially the only excitement in a game that became much more even after Grimaldo’s goal. Mainz had a duty to move forward more, and Leverkusen handed the ball over to their opponents significantly more often – so the game took place more in midfield than in front of the goals.

In the 73rd minute, Leverkusen had their biggest (double) chance to score a second goal through Jeremie Frimpong and Wirtz, but Zentner and the blocking Stefan Bell were there again. The guests’ number 1 also won the next duel against Frimpong (82′), and the Mainz player then made an excellent save from close range against Nathan Tella (83′).

Zentner could not be defeated in these situations, but they made it clear that Leverkusen was getting stronger again – and too strong for Mainz, whose coach Bo Henriksen was shown a yellow-red card in stoppage time. The guests were no longer able to pose a threat in the final phase, but the victory remained narrow thanks to Grimaldo’s magical moment. This ensures that Bayer moves back within one point of FC Bayern, who play against TSG Hoffenheim on Wednesday.

Mainz in Berlin, Leverkusen against Gladbach

Mainz is in demand in Berlin on Sunday afternoon (3:30 p.m.). Leverkusen plays in the top game at home against Gladbach (January 18th, 6:30 p.m.).