As of: January 18, 2025 8:28 p.m
The double winner is currently unstoppable. Thanks to another top performance from Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen easily defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 (1-0). The “Werkself”‘s exceptional talent scored the first two goals himself (32nd/62nd), and he prepared Patrik Schick’s goal to make it 3-0 (74th). Tim Kleindienst scored Gladbach’s consolation goal (90th + 1).
It was the eleventh competitive win in a row for coach Xabi Alonso’s team, meaning they are still four points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich. On Tuesday (January 21, 2025) Leverkusen wants to continue this impressive series in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid.
Meanwhile, Gladbach is still asked to achieve the turnaround. After the 0:1 against FC Bayern and the 1:5 at VfL Wolfsburg, the Borussia remain without a point this year.
Leverkusen’s terrier is seriously injured
In the first few minutes, Martin Terrier was the man making the headlines. At first the Frenchman was only centimeters away from becoming a hero, then a few seconds later he became a tragic figure. Moritz Nicolas first used his fingertips to prevent a cross from Terrier from slipping into the far corner to give Leverkusen the lead (5th).
Despite the Gladbach goalkeeper’s strong save, referee Harm Osmers decided on a goal kick – and then there was a shocking moment for Terrier. Nicolas briefly played the ball to a teammate and when the Bayer striker decided to put him under pressure, he was seriously injured. Terrier got stuck in the grass, fell to the ground and had to leave the field with a suspected ruptured Achilles tendon.
A goal à la Wirtz
Leverkusen did not let this terrible experience deter them and controlled their opponents at will, but without having any major further opportunities. The game had already looked almost the same during the week against Mainz (1-0), then came a magical moment from Alejandro Grimaldo, who rewarded the dominance of the champions and cup winners with a free kick. Against Gladbach, this magical moment once again belonged to Wirtz.
-After winning the ball, Leverkusen quickly switched gears and Granit Xhaka sent the national player on his way. He tunneled through Ko Itakura, sprinted into the penalty area and coldly loaded Nicolas – the deserved lead for Leverkusen (32′). It was almost even higher before the break, but Nathan Tella shot a volley just over the goal from 18 meters (40′).
Gladbach is annoyed again Penalty decision
After the break, the hosts gave their guests more play – but no scoring opportunities. Instead, Nicolas had to show his class when Grimaldo shot (55th). And then Gladbach – as in the first leg – was unlucky with a referee decision. Julian Weigl blocked a cross from Grimaldo from close range with his arm and Osmers considered this a criminal offense and awarded a penalty.
In the opening game of this season, Wirtz missed his penalty to make it a possible decision, but then made the follow-up to give Leverkusen a 3-2 win – this time he effortlessly beat Nicolas and made it 2-0 (62nd). Given the way the game has gone so far and Leverkusen’s current defensive strength, there was a lot to suggest that this was already the preliminary decision in this game.
Wirtz enables Schick to score the third goal
If there were any doubts about this, they were eliminated in the 74th minute. Xhaka opened the game again with a through pass to Piero Hincapie, the Ecuadorian continued to play to Wirtz, who immediately dropped it to Schick – and he coolly slotted in Leverkusen’s third goal. It was the striker’s seventh goal in the last four games.
Leverkusen won again confidently – but this time not to zero. In stoppage time, Bayer’s strong defense suddenly gave Kleindienst a lot of space, and he punished that with his tenth goal of the season. But even that didn’t prevent his team from having a false start in 2025.
Leverkusen in Leipzig, Gladbach against Bochum
Leverkusen will be in Leipzig on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.). Gladbach welcomes VfL Bochum at Borussia-Park (January 25th, 6:30 p.m.).
