BAYER BETTER BAYERN
Leverkusen set unbeaten record and go 11 points clear with win against Mainz
Leverkusen, Germany - Bayer Leverkusen battled past Mainz 05 2-1 on Friday to go 11 points clear at the top of the league and set a new record for a Bundesliga club with their 33rd straight game without defeat across all competitions.
The Bundesliga leaders, who lacked their usual efficiency up front while also allowing the visitors enough space to attack, needed a mistake by Mainz keeper Robin Zentner to snatch the win.
Xabi Alonso’s team, who beat Bayern Munich’s previous unbeaten run of 32 matches, are now on 61 points, with secondplaced Bayern, on 50, in action against RB Leipzig on Saturday.
They went in front with Granit Xhaka’s stunning effort from 20 metres in the third minute but it was shortlived with Dominik Kohr’s diving header just five minutes later levelling things for Mainz.
Leverkusen had possession but Mainz keeper Robin Zentner made a string of fine first half saves to keep the visitors in the game before letting a weak Robert Andrich shot in the 68th slip through his hands for the hosts to reclaim the lead.
Mainz were left with 10 men when Jessic Ngankam was sent
off for a foul on Xhaka.
“We have to be honest to ourselves and say that we did not play a good game,” said scorer Andrich.
“We were a bit lucky to win it.
But we won’t be complaining about the three points.
“We were too impatient and not precise enough. We did not find the solutions needed. We made far too many mistakes.”
I am not the only problem, says Tuchel
Meanwhile, Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel said he was not the only one responsible for his team’s bad form and hoped the club’s decision to part ways with him at the end of the season would liberate him and his players for the remainder of the campaign. The Bavarians this week decided to cut ties with Tuchel at the end of the current campaign despite his contract running until 2025 following a three-game losing run in all competitions.
“It does not matter if I understand the decision of the club or whether I am happy with it,” Tuchel told a press conference ahead of Saturday’s match against RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.
“The only thing that matters now is that there is clarity. Clarity brings freedom and it is good for the matches and the training.”
“Freedom for the coach on how to act. You don’t have to think about long-term consequences of your choices,” he said. “You can be a bit more reckless.”
Tuchel had taken over in March 2023 from Julian Nagelsmann with high expectations but he suffered a bumpy start, crashing out of the German Cup and the Champions League before snatching the Bundesliga title from Borussia Dortmund on the final matchday.
This season they have been equally unpredictable, showing only glimpses of the form that saw them dominate German football for more than a decade.
They were eliminated from the German Cup by third-tier club Saarbruecken and also lost their Champions League Round of 16 first leg 1-0 at Italy’s Lazio last week. “I never felt that we as coaching staff stopped reaching the team,” Tuchel said. “But we have a discrepancy from training to matches and the coach is responsible.”
“I don’t think I am the only problem but I accept my responsibility. I am not satisfied with the way we play and have been unhappy for quite some time. Now we have a new situation but the situation has been solved and communicated but I don’t think I am the only problem,” he said.