Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v Bayern Munich - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - February 15, 2025 Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry in action with Bayer Leverkusen's Nordi Mukiele REUTERS/Heiko Becker
LEVERKUSEN, Germany (Reuters) -Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich had to survive some relentless pressing from champions Bayer Leverkusen to escape with a 0-0 draw in their top-of-the-table clash on Saturday and maintain their eight-point advantage at the summit.
Leverkusen, in second place and desperate to cut Bayern's lead, completely outplayed the visitors in the first half, with their high pressing game wreaking havoc in the Bayern defence.
Despite playing without a centre forward, having surprisingly left both Victor Boniface and Patrik Schick on the bench, Xabi Alonso's team looked far sharper than Bayern, who had travelled to Glasgow midweek for a 2-1 win over Celtic in their Champions League playoff first leg.
They twice hit the woodwork through Jeremie Frimpong and Nathan Tella, with Florian Wirtz, who tried his luck from 50 metres out with a looping shot, orchestrating almost every attack that kept Bayern pinned in their own half.
It was the first time in the Bundesliga since 1992 when stat collection started, that Bayern were without a shot on goal for an entire first half.
It was much of the same after the break, with Leverkusen pressing high, coming close again with a Tella header in the 66th, and the Bavarians, who did not have a single effort towards goal for more than 70 minutes, working overtime in defence to keep the hosts at bay.
Bayern's Manuel Neuer, making his 550th appearance for the club across all competitions, came to the rescue in stoppage time, blocking Amine Adli's point-blank shot before Wirtz fired wide on the rebound.
The result lifted Bayern to 55 points. Leverkusen, whose coach Xabi Alonso is now unbeaten against Bayern in his first six matches against them, are in second place on 47.
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Toby Davis and Deepa Babington)
