Leverkusen win pleases Klopp

30 October 2012 15:01

Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp admits he was surprised to see Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich lose to Bayer Leverkusen.

Bayern, who won their opening eight matches, were stunned 2-1 at home on Saturday, while Dortmund accounted for Freiburg 2-0.

Despite the loss, Bayern remain on top of the table with 24 points, nine points ahead of Dortmund in fourth.

Klopp said he was pleased for Leverkusen, who ironically moved equal on points with Dortmund following the win.

"I'm happy for Leverkusen," he said.

"But in the second half Bayern Munich showed a slightly stronger performance than Bayer, let's put it that way."

Sidney Sam scored the decisive goal in the 87th minute, after Bayern forward Mario Mandzukic had cancelled out Stefan Kiessling's opener.

"After the 1-1 in the middle of the second half I didn't expect Leverkusen to come back," Klopp said.

"But that's football. Bayern was lacking some precision when it came to converting their opportunities. Apart from that they were much better.

"I didn't expect Bayern to win every game this season though."

Defensive errors worry Lahm

29 October 2012 12:34

Philipp Lahm was concerned with the Bayern Munich defence in their 2-1 Bundesliga loss against Bayer Leverkusen.

The Bayern captain said they were deservedly beaten as they conceded too easily at the back.

Stefan Kiessling gifted Leverkusen the lead in the opening 45 minutes, before Mario Mandzukic levelled the scoring in the 77th minute.

Nevertheless, Sidney Sam eventually helped Leverkusen to the three points with his goal in the closing minutes, much to the dissatisfaction of Lahm.

"Leverkusen's victory isn't undeserved, because they scored two goals," Lahm told the official Bayern website.

"We let in a ridiculous and stupid opening goal, we fought back and made it 1-1, and then we let in an equally dumb second goal."

Manuel Neuer was also disappointed with Bayern's defeat, but was adamant that the loss had nothing to do with their attitude.

"We should perhaps criticise ourselves for not taking the lead. At the start, Leverkusen came here and tried to play football, but we should have scored the first goal," Neuer said.

"Instead we were forced to come from behind. We gave it everything we had in the second half and tried to salvage something. The defeat wasn't due to our attitude."

Bayern hold a four-point lead over second-placed Schalke.

Heynckes defiant despite Bayern loss

29 October 2012 04:39

Jupp Heynckes says Bayern Munich will not waver this campaign despite their 100 per cent start to the season coming to an end.

The record-breaking run of eight straight victories was halted as Bayer Leverkusen struck late on to steal all three points on Sunday in a 2-1 result.

But coach Heynckes was in a bullish mood following the match.

"We won't be thrown out of our stride by the defeat, and we'll learn lessons from it. We still have a comfortable lead in the table," Heynckes told the club's official website.

"Against a Leverkusen team with excellent counterattacking ability, you have to keep the pace high for 90 minutes, but we didn't do that."

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's reaction to the defeat was more damning, however, with the 26-year-old disappointed with the cheap manner in which his side conceded the two goals.

"We practically scored the goals against ourselves. They were unfortunate situations compounded by a great deal of bad luck," he added.

Bundesliga wrap: Lucky Leverkusen take down Bayern

28 October 2012 21:20

Bayer Leverkusen have ended Bayern Munich's 100 percent start to the Bundesliga with a 2-1 win away from home thanks to a fortunate goal.

With the score locked at 1-1 in the 87th minute, the visitors from Leverkusen pushed forward and a cross from the right found Sidney Sam. Although Sam's header was off target, it cannoned off Jerome Boateng's head, wrong-footing Manuel Neuer and rolling into the net.

The goal clinched victory for Leverkusen, their first win in Munich in 23 years, and takes them up to fifth on the Bundesliga table with 15 points.

For Bayern, who are coached by former Leverkusen boss Jupp Heynckes, Sunday's result ended their 100 percent start to the season after they set a new record last week with their eighth win in a row.

Leverkusen took the lead in the 42nd minute when a flowing move through midfield saw their skipper Simon Rolfes release Andre Schurrle on the right-hand side of the penalty area and the winger passed the ball to the back post where Bayern captain Phillip Lahm missed his clearance allowing Stefan Kiessling to score.

Bayern dominated the game with 15 shots on target to the visitors' four but did not hit the back of the net until the 77th minute.

The home team dragged themselves level when substitute Claudio Pizarro received a pass from Arjen Robben, twisted past a defender in the box and crossed to Mario Mandzukic, who headed in his seventh goal of the season.

But Leverkusen snatched the three points when Gonzalo Castro crossed to Sam and Boateng provided the unfortunate intervention.

Bayern remain top of the Bundesliga with 24 points, ahead of Schalke (20) and Eintracht Frankfurt (19).

The latter, who have stunned Germany with their brilliant start to the season having only just come up from the second division, suffered just their second defeat of the season in a 2-1 away loss to Stuttgart.

In the other Bundesliga match on Sunday, Borussia Moenchengladbach stunned Hannover 3-2 after they trailed by two goals from the 53rd minute.

Jan Schlaudraff and Mame Biram Diouf gave the home side a 2-0 lead with goals either side of half-time.

But after Alvaro Dominguez struck for Gladbach in the 70th minute, the visitors scored two more times in the next nine minutes to win the game.

Roel Brouwers and Juan Arango struck for Gladbach as they won their third match of the campaign to move up to ninth with 12 points, just one point above Hannover, who dropped to 10th.

Mueller: Bayern not getting carried away

27 October 2012 14:57

Thomas Mueller says Bayern Munich are all too aware there is a long way to go in the Bundesliga, despite their blistering start.

The Bavarians have won their opening eight league games and have a five-point lead in the table over second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt.

Nevertheless, the midfielder is not getting carried away following Bayern's perfect start to the season.

"The coach (Jupp Heynckes) keeps on reminding us that we have not achieved anything yet and keeps us grounded," Mueller told Bild.

"We all realise that we haven't won the league yet, regardless of our perfect start. With the last two seasons in mind, we will definitely not get complacent."

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was equally cautious as he pointed out Bayern appeared to be on their way to Bundesliga glory last season, too, before eventually having to settle for second place.

"We were in a similar situation last term. Yet we did not win the Bundesliga title then. We are not getting carried away," Neuer said.

Bayern are preparing for Sunday's league match against Bayer Leverkusen.

Voeller: Leverkusen need ´perfect´ day

27 October 2012 14:41

Rudi Voeller says Bayer Leverkusen will have to be at their very best in order to get a result in Sunday's Bundesliga match at Bayern Munich.

Leverkusen have not won an away game against Bayern for 23 years, and the former Germany international is desperate for them to end their losing streak in Munich this weekend.

"We've beaten Bayern a couple of times at home, but not in Munich," Voeller said.

"Well, it's partly because Bayern are always so strong at home. We've come close a couple of times, but just fallen a fraction short. But we've not given up hope yet and we'll give it another try this Sunday.

"Obviously, when you visit the Allianz Arena, you need the ultimate perfect day to come away with anything from Munich, and you need Bayern not to have the same kind of day."

Bundesliga preview: Leverkusen seek to end Bayern domination

25 October 2012 15:17

Bayern Munich will look to maintain their perfect start to the Bundesliga season when Bayer Leverkusen travels to Allianz Arena on Sunday.

Germany's most successful club have made a blistering start to the campaign, winning their opening eight games in dominant fashion.

The 22-time Bundesliga champions thrashed promoted outfit Fortuna Dusseldorf 5-0 to take their goal tally to 26, while conceding a mere two goals.

Jupp Heynckes men, who returned to winning ways in the UEFA Champions League after registering a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Lille, could possibly open up an eight-point lead atop of the standings if results go their way.

With Mario Mandzukic and Thomas Mueller netting 13 goals between them, many are expecting Bayern to make it nine wins from nine in the league but Leverkusen have enjoyed considerable success against the Bavarians.

Leverkusen, who occupy fifth position, ran out 2-0 winners in the pair's last league meeting at BayArena in March, with Stefan Kiessling and Karim Bellarabi bagging second-half goals.

That result, along with their five-game unbeaten streak, should fill manager Sami Hyypia and his youthful Leverkusen side with confidence leading into Sunday's encounter.

A loss for Bayern, however, would open the door for surprise-packets Eintracht Frankfurt to close the gap to just two points.

Frankfurt, who have lost just once this season and sit second on the table, make the trip to Stuttgart knowing they could make significant inroads on Bayern or slip down to third with Schalke hot on their tail.

Schalke overcame fierce rivals Borussia Dortmund 2-1 last time out to further demonstrate their title credentials.

The seven-time Bundesliga winners, seeking their first league crown since 1958, are in impressive form, with three wins in four matches moving them to within two points of Frankfurt heading into their home encounter against struggling Nurnberg.

Defending champions Dortmund can ill-afford any more slips and face a tricky trip to Freiburg on Saturday.

Dortmund are 12 points adrift of Bayern after just eight games and a second successive defeat could all but end their championship bid, even at such an early stage of the season.

In other fixtures across the weekend, sixth-placed Hannover will look for a return to form at home to Europa League participants Borussia Moenchengladbach, relegation candidates Augsburg face Hamburg and Mainz plays host to lowly Hoffenheim.

Struggling Greuther Fuerth welcomes ninth-placed Werder Bremen to Trolli ARENA, while Dusseldorf do battle with cellar-dwellers Wolfsburg, who sacked manager Felix Magath on Thursday.