Bayern Begin Year With Away Win | OneFootball

Bayern travelled to face Leipzig in the first game of 2025 and Straus was forced to make a number of changes, with long term injuries to midfield stalwarts Sarah Zadrazil and Georgia Stanway meaning a substantial shake-up in midfield.

This article written by Matthew Coates

Back-up Sam Kerr left to join Liverpool in January which means that Bayern are now a little light in midfield, so whether Bayern will head into the market in the final days of the window remains to be seen. Japanese sensation Momoko Tanikawa made the Bayern bench for the first time.

The Bayern XI was as follows:

Ena Mahmutovic (GK) – Giulia Gwinn, Glódís Viggósdóttir (c), Magdalena Eriksson, Carolin Simon – Julia Zigiotti, Linda Dallman, Klara Bühl, Pernille Harder, Sydney Lohmann, Lea Schüller

Bayern started the day in second place in the Frauen Bundesliga, three points behind Frankfurt after their win against third placed Leverkusen on Friday. With a win in this Fixture, Bayern would close the gap on Frankfurt, and remain seconnd due to goal difference.

Leipzig began the game in eighth place, twelve points ahead of ninth placed SGS Essen, but a win would have taken them up as high as fifth.

Dominant First Half

From the opening exchanges, Bayern looked like the home side – In the first half they averaged 70% possession! Occasionally, they looked a little uncomfortable in dealing with Leipzig’s high press, leading to a few misplaced passes – but that can be expected in your first competitive match for 46 days.

Bayern’s first chance came in the eighth minute, following some nice interplay between Dallman and Schüller. A little give and go led to a shot from Schüller that was destined for the bottom corner, but only for a desperate block that deflected the effort away from danger.

In the eleventh minute, Bayern’s determined high press following a Leipzig throw-in meant that Dallman had time and space to find an onrushing Gwinn, but again the shot was deflected wide for Bayern’s first corner of the evening. Bayern have proved a real threat on attacking set-pieces this season, and that seems likely to continue in the Rückrunde. A dangerous ball from Simon to the back post was met by a towering header from Eriksson, her first goal in the league this season, 1-0.

Leipzig responded with more determination and guile, having their first effort of the evening following a quick break, but the strike from Schimmer sailed past the post and into the side netting.

Bayern showed a few moments of real quality in possession – some lovely interplay and switching of positions, but Leipzig were stubborn defensively and were just about able to put out any fires when they arose.

A deep free kick for Bayern in the 24th minute was lifted into the penalty area, and Harder was almost able to win the header. Any contact would have resulted in a goal following a nervy moment from Leipzig’s keeper Herzog. Herzog’s nerves showed again moments later, when she parried a shot into the path of Gwinn, whose snap-response was headed away on the line, and the rebound from Schülller went narrowly wide.

Bühl looked lively, consistently beating her defender but just lacking that final pass or shot. Her best moment probably being her cross-turned-shot in the 30th minute, but Harder failed to get on the end of the effort to direct it on goal. Harder herself looked a little rusty at times, but displayed her immense quality in the 39th minute when she took on four defenders and shot on goal but was unable to direct it past Herzog.

In the 41st minute, Leipzig had their first effort on target. An attacking corner was headed clear and then lifted back into the area, where a weak header was comfortably claimed by Mahmutovic.

In the dying moments of the first half, Dallman was fed one-on-one after a delicate ball from Lohmann, but she was diverted wide and the shot was smothered by the goalkeeper.

Even Second Half

Although Bayern remained the more dominant side in possession, Leipzig started to create chances and show some fight. Leipzig were the better team in the opening exchanges, creating a number of half-chances and shots from distance.

Bayern’s first chance of the second half came in the 55th minute, where a dangerous ball into the box was almost smashed home by a Leipzig defender.

Schüller and Harder had some nice moments between them, but they were consistently thwarted by some determined defending. Schüller had a massive chance to score in the 57th minute, but her header was mistimed and ballooned into the air as a result.

A long-range effort from Dallman in the 62nd minute was vicious and left the goalkeeper scrambling, but Herzog was able to prevent that crucial second goal for Bayern. As long as the match remained within touching distance from Leipzig, there was reason to be fearful.

Leipzig’s best attacking moment came in the 66th minute, where some lovely linkup between new signings Kadowaki and Ásgeirsdóttir led to a powerful effort from the latter, but it luckily blazed over Mahmutovic’s goal.

In the 69th minute, Schüller ran onto a clipped ball from Dallman and almost made contact with the ball, instead making contact with the jaw of the Leipzig keeper. Luckily, Herzog was able to continue.

Despite the relative lack of action for Mahmutovic, she showed her quality and confidence in dealing with Leipzig’s speculative long shots. Despite the power that was on them, she managed to hold onto them, which helped Bayern regain control and halt any Leipzig momentum from building.

Bayern were still looking for that second, and almost got it following a corner in the 82nd minute. The cross was initially headed away but was cleverly clipped back in by Gwinn towards Harder who unfortunately couldn’t produce enough contact to direct it past the keeper.

With the game on a knife’s edge, Leipzig were desperate to cause Bayern problems, and for the most part, Bayern were able to respond well and prevent attempts on Mahmutovic’s goal.

In the dying embers of the game, Leipzig midfielder Lou-Ann Joly received a straight red card for a horrible challenge on Harder. Intent or not, it could have caused a very serious injury, but luckily Harder was able to walk it off.

The red card killed any remaining hope for Leipzig, and the whistle sounded, signifying three crucial points to take back to Munich..

The Rückrunde Begins

With this win, Bayern now sit joint top of the Frauen Bundesliga table after 13 matchdays, behind on goal difference behind league leaders Eintracht Frankfurt. Bayern are due to face Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal in ten days, so Straus’ side will need to have shaken off any rust from the extended winter break by then. Bayern’s next league game is away to Hoffenheim, a similar side to Leipzig in many respects.

Although not playing the clinical football that we would have all liked, sometimes it is more important to get the three points and move on. Leipzig are a tricky side, especially at home, and at this stage of the season the points on the board are what matter.

Hopefully, after some wins the confidence can start flowing again and we can produce better performances, but I thought it was a really professional performance from Bayern in adverse circumstances. A potential banana skin, avoided, Next up, Bayern travel to Hoffenheim on February 9th.