Bayern Munich return to Bundesliga with a 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen

The winning streak continues for Bayern Munich. After their winter training camp in Doha, the Bavarian giants looked mostly convincing in their victory. However, it didn’t come without discomfort.

Courtesy of Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern were absolutely made to work for their result. The final scoreline shouldn’t fool anyone. Nevertheless, Jupp Heynckes brought Bayern back their first positive result from Leverkusen in years.

Assuredly, Bayer Leverkusen wouldn’t go without a fight. Early on, Leverkusen played an intense pressing game. But Bayern did well to absorb and redirect the pressure. However, the match remained, for a period, a very end-to-end contest. Surely it was exciting stuff for neutrals.
Finally, the deadlock broke just over 30 minutes in. Arjen Robben whipped in a complicated corner for Leverkusen to deal with. Arturo Vidal then found himself with a free header on goal. After an unfortunate deflection on Bayer’s part, Javi Martinez slammed home the opening goal into the roof of Bernd Leno’s net.
The half closed with a good-looking lead and performance for Bayern Munich. The defense looked solid, and Bayern were gathering steam against a tough opposition. Leverkusen have been no slouches lately. Their recent resurgence of form — and Kevin Volland’s in particular — propelled them into 4th place.