Hansi Flick had announced before the game that he wanted to become German champion with Bayern as soon as possible. After the win against Leverkusen and the blunder of pursuer RB Leipzig, Munich are almost there.
Hansi Flick’s farewell tour is about to come to a masterful conclusion. Buoyed by the blunder of pursuer RB Leipzig, FC Bayern took the penultimate step to the title on Tuesday with a 2-0 (2-0) win. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (7th minute) and Joshua Kimmich (13th) made Bayern Munich celebrate their 50th Bundesliga win against Bayer Leverkusen. “It wasn’t a good performance,” said Bayer professional Sven Bender on Sky TV. “We could have done a lot more, but to take something with you against Munich you have to play at the attacker.” The strong Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky was annoyed about the “willless” appearance at the beginning.
FC Bayern ensures clear conditions early on
After the fuss about Flick and his publicly expressed wish for an early termination of his contract in the summer, his stars absolutely wanted to win the next victory on the way to the 30th championship in Bundesliga times and thus to the fifth star.
They quickly made things clear. CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was able to celebrate a befitting success on the day of his return to the Uefa Executive Committee in the wake of the turbulence surrounding the Super League. Thanks to their own three and Leipzig’s blunder in the 1-2 draw in Cologne, Munich can celebrate their ninth championship title in a row with a win in Mainz on Saturday. It would be the seventh title with Bayern for national coach candidate Flick. World footballer Robert Lewandowski should also return to the ensemble against Mainz after his knee injury.
On the perfect Bayern game day, even Flick and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, who were in a clinch, cheered together when they happily high-fived after the early lead. Three days after Flick’s heavily discussed appearance after the victory in Wolfsburg, the players showed no signs of uncertainty.
Right from the start, the hosts underscored Flick’s wish that had just been expressed: “It is our goal and our aim to become German champions as quickly as possible.” Since pursuer RB Leipzig had made a mistake in Cologne two hours earlier, the Munich team knew they had a great opportunity to further extend their lead.
And relatively quickly Bayern eliminated any doubts. “We were caught off guard,” admitted Leverkusen club boss Fernando Carro at half-time. Before the opening goal, the strong Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky initially saved Thomas Müller’s shot after a fine cross from David Alaba, but he had no chance against Choupo-Moting’s volley.
Even without the Polish star striker Lewandowski, Bayern proved to be accurate for the second time. Less than a quarter of an hour was played when Kimmich made it 2-0 from 16 meters free-standing. In the otherwise almost empty grandstand, Rummenigge rose from his seat and applauded contentedly. He had been reluctant to make any statements about the Flick cause since Saturday – his successor Oliver Kahn has now spoken up.
“The professionalism now means that we concentrate on today’s game and then on Mainz, of course we also want to win a title this season. And after Mainz we will also look for a conversation with Hansi Flick,” said Kahn who quotes “Bild”. The Leverkusen team increased their offensive efforts after the change. In the first half, Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer only really had to save against Patrik Schick, whose shot didn’t cause him any major problems (21′).
Coach Hannes Wolf, who was loaned out by the DFB, brought in Karim Bellarabi and young star Florian Wirtz (46th), but Munich had the first chances again. Müller missed a good chance to make it 3-0 (52nd). A little later, a supposed handball by Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba was checked, but there was no penalty (54th). Now Flick, who had greeted his colleague Wolf with a warm hug before the game, reacted with a triple substitution and brought in the recently injured Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sané, who was initially rested, and 18-year-old Tanguy Nianzou, who was replaced by Paris Saint- Germain came (63rd). Both teams still had chances – but no more goals were scored.