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Ahead of Bayern’s trip to Mönchengladbach on Saturday 11 January (6.30pm), Bayer 04, the defending champions, have reduced the gap to the Munich giants to just one point (35 to 36). Bayern will visit Borussia Park, where they have struggled in recent years, suffering five defeats in their last nine appearances.
Dortmund suffered their first home defeat of the Bundesliga season and are now 10 points behind Leverkusen (25 points).
This marks the ninth consecutive win in all competitions for Xabi Alonso’s side, including a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League and a 1-0 win over Bayern in the DFB Cup round of 16.
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Their current form mirrors that of last year, when the Werkself (the “Werksteam”, nickname for the club founded in 1904 by the chemist Bayer) recorded a remarkable run of 14 consecutive wins – a club record – and lost just once this season, in the Europa League final, while they also won the domestic double.
Wirtz starts on the bench
-Leverkusen ended 2024 with an impressive quadruple from Patrik Schick against Freiburg (5-1) and started 2025 with a double (8th, 19th) from the Czech international, which was his 10th and 11th goals of the Bundesliga season (15 in all competitions) in just two months.
Nathan Tella scored the opening goal for Leverkusen just 25 seconds after kick-off. Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky made crucial saves against Serhou Guirassy (29′) and Karim Adeyemi (42′), while Jamie Gittens reduced the deficit for Dortmund in the 12th minute.
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As the game entered the final ten minutes, Dortmund gained new hope with a converted penalty from Guirassy (79′, 3-2), but Leverkusen remained stable.
Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin was forced to make significant changes to his squad, particularly in defense, bringing in young talents Almugera Kabar (18 years old) and Yannik Lührs to make up for the absences of Rami Bensebaini and Nico Schlotterbeck, while Julian Ryerson moved to central defense.
Xabi Alonso opted to start with Leverkusen’s rising star Florian Wirtz on the bench, bringing him on for Schick in the 60th minute.
Bayer 04 will host Mainz and Gladbach in the Bundesliga next week before a crucial trip to Madrid to face Atlético in the Champions League, crucial to securing a place in the top eight and direct qualification for the knockout stages. o.-round is C1.
