Last-minute Leverkusen strikes again in the new season. After Xhaka's hammer to give Leverkusen the lead and Elvedi's follow-up goal for Gladbach, Omlin saves a penalty in stoppage time - but Leverkusen still win thanks to a penalty in the 101st minute.
An incredibly late goal has saved champions Bayer Leverkusen's perfect start to the new season. Florian Wirtz scored well into stoppage time (90.+11) on Friday evening to make the final score 3:2 at Borussia Mönchengladbach. The fact remains: Coach Xabi Alonso's team simply cannot be beaten in the Bundesliga. Wirtz converted the follow-up shot from a penalty after initially failing to beat Gladbach goalkeeper Jonas Omlin.
National team captain Granit Xhaka (12) and Wirtz (38) had initially given Leverkusen a 2-0 lead. Particularly worth seeing: Xhaka's hammer shot from around 20 meters flew into the goal at 129 km/h, leaving Swiss goalkeeper Jonas Omlin powerless.
After goals from Nati defender Nico Elvedi (59') and Tim Kleindienst (85'), it looked as though the double winners would not be able to secure victory. But then, as so often last season, Bayer scored a decisive goal in the closing stages in front of 54,042 spectators.
Leverkusen are now unbeaten in 35 consecutive Bundesliga games and 42 in all national competitions. For Gladbach, on the other hand, who had started the new season with confidence, it was a first setback. The game had to be interrupted for around five minutes after the break due to smoke bombs.
Bayer without new signings in the starting eleven
The past is over, Bayer coach Xabi Alonso had emphasized on Thursday. On the matchday, he then presented his championship-winning team without new signings and again with Lukas Hradecky and the two ex-Gladbach players Xhaka and Jonas Hofmann. Jonathan Tah was also on the pitch and acted as defensive boss. Whether his move to FC Bayern Munich will go ahead is highly questionable. The three new signings Martin Terrier, Aleix Garcia and Jeanuel Belocian all remained on the bench.
Gladbach, whose supporters celebrated the start of the season with a fan march in white from the city center to the stadium, as they did two years ago, did without their midfielder Manu Koné, who may still move during this transfer period. Borussia head coach Gerardo Seoane, Alonso's predecessor at Leverkusen, named two new players in the starting eleven: Kevin Stöger and Tim Kleindienst.
Cautious jubilation after Xhaka's dream goal
As expected, the visitors showed the more mature style of play and dominated the game in a match that was very intense from the outset. However, Xhaka's early 1:0 lead was more of a coincidence, as the Swiss player scored with a direct shot into the corner of the goal from just under 20 meters out after being played in by Jeremie Frimpong. The 31-year-old, who had played for Borussia for four years, was only cautiously jubilant after his dream goal. Six minutes later, the Gladbach goal rattled when Victor Boniface hit the crossbar during a counter-attack.
The hosts then became a little more courageous and had their first good chance to score through Kleindienst, but the second goal was conceded on the counter-attack, again initiated by Frimpong and finished off by Wirtz with a left-footed shot into the near corner. A goal by Kleindienst was subsequently disallowed after a video check.
However, Gladbach then came back - first with the equalizer from Nico Elvedi, who scored from Ko Itakura's header to make it 1-2 and open up the game. Kleindienst then gave the Borussia fans another chance to cheer. An exciting final phase began with extremely long stoppage time - and a happy ending for Bayer.
The live ticker for the post-match review
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
- Nico Elvedi - 1:2 (59.)
- Tim Kleindienst - 2:2 (85.)
- (12.) 0:1 - Granit Xhaka
- (38.) 0:2 - Florian Wirtz
- (90.+11.) 2:3 - Florian Wirtz
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Liveticker
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Liveticker closed
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0.
Marcel Reif: "Leverkusen in last season's form are top favorites again this year"
blue Sport expert Marcel Reif looks ahead to the upcoming Bundesliga season.
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90.+14.End of 2nd half
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90.+13.Yellow card Borussia Mönchengladbach
Stefan Lainer
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90.+11.Goal for Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 2:3 through Florian Wirtz
Florian Wirtz
Striker
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90.+11.Bayer 04 Leverkusen misses penalty
Florian Wirtz
Striker
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90.+5.Substitution in Borussia Mönchengladbach
Fabio Chiarodia
Defender
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90.+5.Substitution out Borussia Mönchengladbach
Luca Netz
Defender
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90.+5.Substitution in Borussia Mönchengladbach
Nathan N'Goumou
Midfielder
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90.+5.Substitution out Borussia Mönchengladbach
Tim Kleindienst
Striker
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90.+5.Substitution in Borussia Mönchengladbach
Stefan Lainer
Defender
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90.+5.Substitution out Borussia Mönchengladbach
Franck Honorat
Midfielder
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85.Goal for Borussia Mönchengladbach, 2:2 through Tim Kleindienst (Kevin Stöger)
Tim Kleindienst
Striker
Assist: Kevin Stöger
Midfielder
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82.Substitution in Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Amine Adli
Striker
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82.Substitution out Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Victor Boniface
Striker
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81.Substitution in Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Aleix García
Midfielder
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81.Substitution out Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Robert Andrich
Midfielder
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71.Substitution in Borussia Mönchengladbach
Philipp Sander
Midfielder
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71.Substitution out Borussia Mönchengladbach
Rocco Reitz
Midfielder
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71.Substitution in Borussia Mönchengladbach
Tomáš Cvancara
Striker
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71.Substitution out Borussia Mönchengladbach
Alassane Pléa
Midfielder
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65.Substitution in Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Martin Terrier
Striker
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65.Substitution out Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Jonas Hofmann
Striker
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59.Goal for Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1:2 through Nico Elvedi
Nico Elvedi
Defender
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46.Kick-off 2nd half
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45.+5.End of 1st half
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38.Goal for Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 0:2 through Florian Wirtz
Florian Wirtz
Striker
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12.Goal for Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 0:1 through Granit Xhaka
Granit Xhaka
Midfielder
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1.Start of the match
