Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen meet for the fourth time this season. This time in the last 16 of the Champions League.
05.03.2025, 11:00
05.03.2025, 14:51
SDA
Football fans are looking forward to this showdown: Bayern versus Bayer is already regarded as the new German Clásico. In the highly emotional battle for the Champions League quarter-finals, there will not only be big individual comparisons between coaches Vincent Kompany and Xabi Alonso, wizards Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz or team strategists Joshua Kimmich and Granit Xhaka.
For FC Bayern in particular, there is far more at stake in the round of 16 than advancing to the next knockout round. On Wednesday in the sold-out Allianz Arena and six days later in the second leg in Leverkusen, nothing less than national supremacy is at stake. It's about status, prestige, old scores - and winning the season. A premature farewell to the dream of another "Final dahoam" on May 31 in Munich would be a bitter blow for Bayern.
Xhaka's third round of 16 match against Bayern
Munich's home record is impressive: they have been unbeaten in the top flight for four years and in 21 matches. Bayern have also won eleven out of twelve home games in the league this season. The only draw was against Leverkusen. The 0:1 home defeat in the Cup last December - also against the Werkself - was much more painful.
Bayer seem to be the club that Munich simply cannot find a winning formula against. 1:2, 2:2, 0:3, 1:1, 0:1, 0:0 - Bayern have not won any of their last six games against Bayer with coaching mastermind Xabi Alonso.
Granit Xhaka has thus also improved his personal record. The Swiss national team captain now has five wins, six draws and seven defeats against Bayern Munich to his name. He has already faced Munich twice in the last 16 of the Champions League: in 2012 with FC Basel and in 2017 with Arsenal - both times Xhaka and his team failed. Now the time seems ripe for a coup. "We're stable enough to annoy Bayern," says the 32-year-old. For
Championship title for Bayer probably gone
However, the Swiss cleverly passed on the role of favorite to his opponents. "For me, the team at the top of the table is the favorite. And that's not us at the moment, it's Bayern," said Xhaka. Eight points separate the two teams, and only an unexpected collapse by their rivals could enable Leverkusen to defend their title.
The last time the two teams met was in mid-February, when Bayer clearly dominated in their own stadium but still failed to score. It was a missed opportunity to put the league leaders under pressure once again. Leverkusen are all the more keen to give their rivals a run for their money at European level. "We know how we have to play against Bayern," said Xhaka. "You can't always stop Bayern for 90 minutes. You have to be there in terms of will and hunger." For him, however, it doesn't matter what the opponent is called, every game in the Champions League is special. And: "I go into every game as if it were my last."
Bayern are well ahead in the championship, while only third-division side Arminia Bielefeld stand in the way of Leverkusen's return to the final in the Cup. Now it remains to be seen which of the two teams can continue to dream of the title at European level.
