Despite personnel shortages, RB Leipzig and Bayer 04 Leverkusen fought a fast-paced Bundesliga duel, especially in the first half – with the better end for Leverkusen. On the 15th matchday of the Bundesliga, Bayer secured a 3-1 (2-1) win.
Martin Terrier (40th) and Patrik Schick (44th) turned Leipzig’s lead through Xaver Schlager (35th) on Saturday. Leverkusen’s substitute talent Montrell Culbreath (90+7) made the decision in stoppage time on his Bundesliga debut. With the victory, Leverkusen (29 points) moved past Leipzig, who had the same number of points, into third place due to the better goal difference. For RB, after seven home games with seven wins and only three goals conceded, it was the first home defeat of the season.
Early chances for both teams
Despite a total of 18 missing players (Leipzig nine, Leverkusen eight) due to suspension, withdrawals for the Africa Cup and injuries, the two opponents did not spend long on the personnel situation. The guests got off to a better start and combined well with a quick, short passing game.
Schick (5th) and Terrier (6th) fired the first warning shots. But the people of Leipzig didn’t take long to ask either. Conrad Harder (7th) tested Bayer goalkeeper Mark Flekken early with a 20-meter shot. After just under a quarter of an hour, Leipzig became more grippy in their pressing and Leverkusen had problems.
Wacher Baumgartner provides a throw-in
Robert Andrich misused the ball under pressure. Tidiam Gomis (18th) completed the quick counterattack for Leipzig with a shot just wide of the goal. Leverkusen, who also had to replace injured left-back and starter Alex Grimaldo at short notice, recovered themselves and found their structure again with a four-man chain against the ball.
The game became more open. Schick (24th) headed past an Arthur cross. On the other side, Flekken saved from Willi Orban after a set piece from close range. After all, it was a throw-in that led to the first goal of the game. Christoph Baumgartner reacted quickly on the right wing and threw to Schlager. He pulled across the penalty area and then shot it precisely from 18 meters down the left to make it 1-0.
Leverkusen turns the game around in four minutes
But Leverkusen shook themselves briefly, stayed in the game and turned the result around within four minutes. First, from a similar position to his “scorpion kick” goal last week in the 2-0 win against 1. FC Köln, Terrier heads an Arthur cross into the far corner to make it 1-1. Afterwards, after a counterattack, Schick duped Kosta Nedeljkovic in the penalty area with a simple flick and refined the counterattack into his sixth goal of the season to make it 2-1. Nathan Tella even had a great chance to score the third goal in stoppage time in the first half.
Leipzig comes out of the break strong
The second half continued just as breathlessly. However, Leipzig now clearly set the tone. With a lot of bite and pressure against the ball, RB posed problems for the guests. Gomis (46th) fired the first shot on goal in the second half after just 20 seconds. Coach Kasper Hjulmand’s visiting team initially struggled. Flekken prevented the equalizer with a brilliant one-on-one against Harder (53′).
It wasn’t until the 60th minute that Leverkusen regained more security and ball control. However, the guests shied away from taking risks going forward and – now with a five-man chain – focused more on maintaining the result. So the wildness that had hitherto disappeared from the game. Leipzig ran against the deep Bayer defense.
Timo Werner gets a “home farewell”
RB coach Ole Werner brought in Timo Werner (79th) – who is about to move to the US professional league MLS – his last offensive option. The hosts stayed in control. Schlager (82′) had another chance after a long time with a shot from half-right, but Flekken was on the post. Overall, however, the Rhinelanders managed well to keep the ball away from the goal.
The last chance of the game went to the advanced RB captain Orban (90th + 5), but he didn’t get enough pressure after a long ball after his header attempt – no problem for Flekken, who played a large part in Leverkusen’s narrow victory in the top game. The guests brought the final point. Substitute Youngser Culbreath ran away on a counterattack and made it 3-1.
Leverkusen had to tremble one last time because before the goal was scored, Andrich, who had been outcompeted by Orban in an aerial duel, had jumped into the hand of Andrich as he fell from a high cross on the edge of his own penalty area. But the referee team and VAR did not consider the scene worthy of punishment and the guests were allowed to celebrate the away three-pointer.
Leipzig against St. Pauli, Leverkusen against Stuttgart
After the winter break, Leipzig will be guests at FC St. Pauli on Saturday afternoon (January 10, 2025) (3:30 p.m.). Leverkusen will welcome VfB Stuttgart for their next top game on Saturday evening (6.30 p.m.).