Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Bayern Munich: Three Things We Learned

Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to pick up a huge 2-1 win over Bayern Munich this weekend as the Bundesliga title race heats up.

While it may not be viewed as one of the most exciting leagues in the world, the German Bundesliga certainly came up with the goods over the weekend.

One such example of that came when Leverkusen met Bayern, with the hosts pulling off the kind of win that can inspire quite a surge in confidence. Today, we’ll be taking a look at a few of our biggest takeaways from the game.

The VAR effect

We all know that VAR is considered to be a pretty controversial topic in the world of football, and it’s not hard to see why. In this game, especially, it played a huge role in deciding the outcome. After going 1-0 down, Leverkusen’s Amine Adli was booked twice in the box for diving. However, on both occasions, the decision was overturned – leading to two penalties with Exequiel Palacios scoring both of them to ensure the hosts walked away with all three points.

Alonso’s turnaround

Former Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso is the current manager of Bayer Leverkusen. As such, this was always going to be an important game for him – and so it proved to be. Under his guidance, the club has now managed to win five games straight in all competitions. They still reside down in 8th but for the first time in a long time, it genuinely seems as if they have a real drive and purpose behind them.

Bayern have to fight

As a result of them dropping points, Bayern Munich fell into 2nd place in the Bundesliga table. Taking their spot at the top of the pile is Borussia Dortmund, who battered Koln 6-1 on Saturday. It’s the kind of moment that has been on the horizon for a while and honestly, we think it’s a good thing for Bayern. They needed to be reminded that they aren’t invincible, and we’re intrigued to see how the rest of their campaign plays out.