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Following their 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich on the opening day of the season, RB Leipzig were looking to prove that the result was a one-off. 

The way Ole Werner’s side played in the first half also suggested this, as they were lethal on the counter and forced the game to turn into something more akin to a basketball game, so end-to-end football, instead of what has become common when teams play Bayern, and that is sitting back and defending. 

Leipzig did need to defend at times, but most of the best chances in the first half fell to them. They had an effort cleared off the line by Jonathan Tah, but minutes later, Romulo would score from a David Raum cut back to give Leipzig the lead.

They did not stop there either, and did not give Bayern the chance to gain control of the game. Antonio Nusa had the better of Bayern’s makeshift right-back, Tom Bischof, most of the half, and would have another great chance to make it 2-0, but his effort would fly over the bar. This would come back to bite the hosts.

Bayern gained immediate control of the second half and made Leipzig pay for their missed chances in the first half when Serge Gnabry made it 1-1. Michael Olise would then be subbed on, and it would greatly swing momentum in favour of Bayern. 

Leipzig were not completely out of the game yet when Romulo forced a strong save from Manuel Neuer. However, two minutes later, Bayern would make it 2-1 when the Leipzig defence failed to deal with an Olise cross, and it landed at the feet of Harry Kane.

Yan Diomande would force another world-class save from the Bayern keeper.

After this, Leipzig would collapse and concede three in the space of five minutes. First, Jonathan Tah scored from a corner to put the game out of reach, then Aleksander Pavlovic would convert an Olise cutback before Olise would then get his own goal when he was assisted by who else but the returning Jamal Musiala. 

Granted, within the final 10 minutes, Leipzig more or less gave up. However, the final 20 minutes of the game showed how good Bayern are. Their ability to just force their opponent into submission and overwhelm them to such a degree that they are forced to give up. 

It is performances like these that make you think that this team is simply one of, if not the best in Europe, and that was without their star player, who they are able to sub on in the final five minutes, and he still gets an assist too. 

Bayern should win the treble; they are that good. 

RB Leipzig:

Peter Gulacsi (3), Ridle Baku (3), Castello Lukeba (5), Willi Orban (4), David Raum (4), Nicolas Seiwald (5), Xaver Schlager (5), Christoph Baumgartner (5), Yan Diomande (6), Romulo (6), Antonio Nusa (6)

Others: Conrad Harder (-), Ezechiel Banzuzi (-), Tidiam Gomis (-), Andrija Maksimovic (-)

Bayern Munich:

Manuel Neuer (7), Tom Bischof (5), Jonathan Tah (6), Dayot Upamecano (6), Hiroki Ito (6), Aleksander Pavlovic (6), Leon Goretzka (5), Lennart Karl (5), Serge Gnabry (6), Luis Diaz (6), Harry Kane (7)

Others: Joshua Kimmich (6), Michael Olise (9), Alphonso Davies (-), Jamal Musiala (-), Min-Jae Kim (-)

GGFN Man of the Match: Michael Olise (9)

All Olise needed was just over 30 minutes to make a difference. In that period, the 24-year-old created the most chances in the game (four), assisted three and scored too. His influence and creativity were greatly missed in the first half when Bayern tried to match Leipzig’s attacking style. 

However, once Olise was subbed on, he took over the game. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan