Matchday 13: Danger! Hyperbole ahead!

By: Scott | November 22nd, 2009

Post a poll question asking which team will win the Bundesliga title and the answer will almost always come back “Bayern München.” The supporters say it, the players say it and even the coaches and club managers say it. They say it during pre-season interviews and mid-season scrums. They say it whether Bayern has been devouring everything in its path or slowly imploding, buckled under the weight of their own egos. It’s that fear, programmed into the hearts of footballers across Germany, which often costs other clubs from coming away from their FCB encounter with three points. The Werkself managed to ignore that fear in today’s match, but only through the first 45 minutes.

bayern-leverkusen-3_400x230 I feel a little awkward writing anything too nasty after Luke wrote such lovely things about us over on the FCB Offside page, but it’s safe to say nobody can fault a guy for loathing Bayern. To many, a Bayern München loss is like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day. After all the parading of their money, the attempts to model themselves as the German national team, the brash arrogance, to now see them flounder through the Hinrunde is about as much fun as watching a meter maid slap a parking ticket on a Hummer. If only we could have helped them sink deeper into the mire.

With the weight of too many failures hanging heavy on Louis van Gaal, the Bavarians took a quick lead at Allianz Arena thanks to Mario Gomez. If there was new optimism among the home squad, though, it didn’t last long as Kießling clocked in his ninth of the season to bring us level. Minutes later, a spectacular bit of back and forth between Kieß and (please, can we keep him?) Toni Kroos ended with Kießling scoring his tenth, but he was wrongly ruled offside and the goal struck from the books. Rolfes at Bayern

For the rest of the half, the Werkself showed Bayern what a winning squad looks like. Kieß, Kroos and Derdiyok kept the pressure on the home side, while the Bavarians offered little evidence of being worth the ticket price. Their best opportunity of the half drew a brilliant save out of Adler- one of several he’d make today.

Ah, but the second half was so much different. Not just a slow down, but an inexplicable complete halt in the attacking energy we’d opened with.

Heynckes commented that “it’s a shame we missed our opportunities in the first half.” Well, coach, isn’t that why there’s a second half? But for us, the only one in a Leverkusen kit doing anything worth watching in the back 45 was Adler. Thankfully, he was keen to put on a heckuva show, repeatedly denying the Bavarians a lead and preventing Gomez from closing the match the way he opened it. Check the highlights while they last, complete with exciting commentary by someone who is either Taz from the Bugs Bunny cartoons or trying to shake a mongoose off his tongue.

“If we had had more confidence in ourselves, we could have played to win,” Kießling later said. “In the second half, we were too focused on defending.”

Good grief! 13 matchdays undefeated and a home at the top of the table. Guys, it’s okay to believe in yourselves now.

So we take one point, again. We remain in the top-dog position, but with a narrower gap between us and second place, which has now been snagged by Werder Bremen. Let’s get the beard a bit barer:

sptg13beard

Our wrap to the Hinrunde goes Stuttgart, Hannover, Hertha, Gladbach. I cannot make predictions without something going horribly wrong, but that doesn’t mean you can’t.