Bundesliga: Bayern shine against Leipzig at the season opener

RB Leipzig wasn't the only team to receive a lesson at the Bundesliga season opener: Champions Bayern Munich showed the entire league within 45 minutes that not only is their squad top- notch , but that they're already in tremendous early form. The Munich team shone from the start, pulling one spectacular move after another out of their magic hat. After the 6-0 (3-0) victory on Friday, Leipzig were both amazed and enchanted.

Michael Olise opened the scoring (27th minute), new signing Luis Diaz added his first Bundesliga goal (32nd minute), before Olise found the back of the net for Leipzig's second goal (42nd minute). And then Harry Kane pulled off a Harry Kane-like performance, gifting RB Leipzig three goals (64th, 74th, and 78th minutes). With this decisive victory, the record champions immediately put themselves back in the top position as contenders for the next league title.

"We had big plans at the start of the season," said a frustrated Leipzig captain David Raum on the ARD microphone after the match, "and we got a real beating, you have to say. Bayern were brutally effective, and we did far too little. This can't go on." "We have a mountain of work ahead of us," said Leipzig coach Ole Werner, "we knew that, we're a team in transition. But today we saw it again in black and white." "Today, it felt like everything just went smoothly," a delighted Serge Gnabry told Sportschau. "It was a lot of fun with the guys up front; we were in the flow. Everyone is happy for each other, and that's important for a team."

Munich's superiority over a restructured Leipzig side became apparent as early as the tenth minute: A pass from Harry Kane found Konrad Laimer on the right, who attempted a shot from a tight angle but failed to connect. Shortly before, Leon Goretzka had twisted his ankle but was able to continue after brief treatment.

Bayern appeared focused across the board, just as coach Vincent Kompany had hoped at the start of the season: Kimmich and his team were "mentally fully there." With great ball control, FCB pressed the visitors into a defensive stance, who barely made it past the halfway line, both with and without the ball.

It took about half an hour for Bayern's star lineup, whose departures of Leroy Sané and Kingsley Coman were never noticeable, to settle into their stride. At the back, Jonathan Tah delivered a near-perfect performance in terms of positioning and timing in his first league game for Bayern. In midfield, Josua Kimmich, Goretzka, and Josip Stanisic repeatedly made their mark. And up front, whether it was Serge Gnabry, Konrad Laimer, Michael Olise, Harry Kane, or new signing Luis Diaz, the Munich team pulled off one surprising move after another.

First, it was Olise who finished off what Stanisic and Gnabry had initiated: Although the pass for the Frenchman came from a Leipzig player, the precision and speed with which the Red hosts acted provoked mistakes.

Bayern cheerfully switched positions: This time Kane opened the ball from the left wing, while Gnabry, in the middle, passed the ball almost invisibly to the incoming Luis Diaz. The Colombian needed less than a second to thunder the pass into a powerful shot under the crossbar and into the right corner.

While Olise had scored his first goal of the match with his "weak" right foot (meaning "weak" in this case: with a shot speed of almost 100 km/h), this time he used his "strong" leg. After a corner from Gnabry from the right, he received the ball again in the right half of the field and, without any real Leipzig resistance, passed the ball to Olise, who, with outstanding vision, fired home, leaving Peter Gulacsi unstoppable, to make it 3-0.

At this point, the visitors from Saxony had two somewhat hopeful approaches to Bayern's goal: A powerful shot from Leipzig's new captain, David Raum, resulted in a corner that failed to convert (29'). Schlager was unable to beat Tah (44'). At the other end, however, a Gnabry effort was deflected and hit the crossbar.

The first 15 minutes after the break surprisingly belonged to the visitors. With Romulo replacing Lois Openda and Antonio Nusa replacing Yan Diomande, Leipzig's new coach Ole Werner brought new ideas into the game. And these did pose problems for Munich – the tricks from the first half were no longer working so naturally. For example, Olise narrowly missed a fierce pass from Kane – because a Leipzig player's foot deflected the pass.

Ridle Baku, however, was left hanging, as was Xaver Schlager. Despite the visitors having significantly increased their possession, RB Leipzig were unable to create any high-quality chances. The visitors only managed one goal, but it was disallowed because Castello Lukeba had passed the ball to himself during the buildup of the goal.

And just when Leipzig thought they were close to pulling off their first magic trick, Harry Kane struck. Gnabry opened the scoring, Diaz played it on to the left. Kane hooked and shot – 4-0. A little later, substitutes Lennart Karl and Alexsandar Pavlovic suddenly joined in the magic, and Kane cut inside from the left and finished it off to make it 5-0. And then Min-Jae Kim, who had been brought on late in the game, set up the perfect through ball to the Englishman, who coolly scored a hat trick within 14 minutes. Leipzig had long since been completely overwhelmed and were truly captivated.

Bayern face Augsburg on Saturday (3:30 p.m.). Leipzig faces Heidenheim at home on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.).

• football
• Bundesliga
• FC Bayern Munich
• RB Leipzig