Union Berlin won 1-0 at home against Wolfsburg, while Werder lost 1-2 in front of a home crowd against Heidenheim. Frankfurt ended 1-1 against Bochum, while the clash between Gladbach and Darmstadt ended 0-0.
In Leverkusen, the game developed without major highlights early on, but then the hosts dominated more and capitalized on Bayern's carelessness during a throw-in. Robert Andrich moved unchallenged down the left, his sharp Stankel pass was met by Josip Stanisic, on loan to Leverkusen from the reigning champions, and he did not celebrate the goal (18th).
The home side controlled the match thereafter, were the most dangerous team before the break and struck decisively after the break. After a remarkable assist from Nathan Della, Alex Grimaldo beat Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer with a powerful shot into the near corner (49').
The record champions, who competed without the injured Konrad Leimer, could no longer progress; Top goal scorer Harry Kane was completely shut out of the game by the Bayer defense. Leverkusen's Jeremy Frimpong hit the bar in the 89th minute, only to be denied by Neuer just in front of goal a minute later. In the 95th minute, the Dutchman sunk the ball into the empty net from long range – Neuer had previously appeared for a corner in the opponent's box and didn't do it in time.
Bayern star Thomas Muller later criticized Sky. “I miss – now we can quote our Oliver Kahn – some balls and this freedom. We have a mentality in our game, especially on the ball.” The 34-year-old insisted this was not a criticism of coach Thomas Tuchel. “We had enough international players on the pitch. , you don't need to go to the coach,” said the DFB teammate. “What I'm talking about is results, especially with the ball, something to do with game intelligence, independence.”
Mueller said Bayer's win was “absolutely deserved”. “We can keep the analysis short.” “They gamble, they play football, they look for solutions,” the 2014 world champion said of the Leverkusen team. He expects the same from his team. Instead, Bayern play in a more static way, “A to B, B to C, no one is free to start playing.” Tuchel said Muller was “not wrong” in his criticism. We had a whole week to prepare for it. We wanted to prevent Leverkusen from being too attacking, without disrupting the flow of the game. But we made incredibly bad decisions,” explained the coach.
A few hours earlier, Leipzig fell behind in Augsburg thanks to Philipp Tietz (35th), but turned things around with headers from Lois Opanda (39th) and Benjamin Cesco (52nd). However, Augsburg managed to equalize from Ermedin Demirovic (60th) and Javor Schlager didn't look his best in the process.
The former Salzburger played, with his ÖFB teammates Nicolas Seewald (from 67th) and Christoph Baumgartner (from 84th) being replaced. In the end, Opanta lost a very poorly executed penalty to Augsburg keeper Finn Dahmen (81'), missing a great chance for Leipzig to win. The Red Bull club have picked up just five points in the last six rounds.
Eintracht Frankfurt are still in sixth place, five points behind Leipzig. Sasa Kalajjic was a first-time father in Hessen's 1-1 home draw against Bochum.
His compatriot Maximilian Wöber (until 72nd) could not overcome the 0-0 draw with Gladbach. Werder had no points with Marco Friedel and Romano Schmidt at home against Heidenheim, Schmidt heading in Bremen's consolation goal (19th) on his club's 125th birthday.
Union Berlin celebrated an important victory without the suspended Christopher Trimmel. In the capital club's 1-0 win over Wolfsburg, ex-ÖFB keeper Pao Bervan was unable to save Danilho Toki's header. Things could be tight for Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac now.
The match was interrupted for more than half an hour and abandoned as supporters of both clubs repeatedly threw tennis balls onto the grass. Only two of the five afternoon games – at Bremen and Frankfurt – progressed without incident. Leverkusen against Bayern started after eight minutes due to expressions of displeasure.
The background to the protests is the opposition of some fan groups against the entry of an investor into the German Football League (DFL). The investor is expected to pay a billion euros for a one percent share in TV revenue.
