Argentina’s World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios scored twice from the spot as Leverkusen blew the door wide open on the competition for the title.
Leverkusen came back from behind, helped a little by video assistant refereeing, to give coach Xabi Alonso a famous win in his first game back with Bayern and keep the champions from regaining the top spot.
It’s an incredible sensation. Alonso, who played for Bayern from 2014 to 2017, said, “The way we played today makes me so proud.”
Borussia Dortmund leads Bayern by one point, and the two teams will play each other in the next round on April 1.
According to Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann, “that is now a must-win game for us because it will be very difficult to win the title otherwise.”
“Today’s defeat was deserved. They were the better team except for the last ten minutes,” he continued.
The performance was harshly criticized by Hasan Salihamidzic, the sporting director of Bayern.
Before taking the lead themselves, Odilon Kossounou deflected a Joshua Kimmich shot into his own net, and Bayern held off a Jeremie Frimpong chance. However, the hosts continued to cause problems for Bayern, and at 55 minutes, they earned their equalizer from the spot.
Amine Adli was at first reserved for plunging after he was cut by Benjamin Pavard, however, the choice was turned around by VAR and Palacios changed over from the spot.
Adli was brought down by Dayot Upamecano just inside the penalty area 20 minutes later, repeating the scene. After VAR intervened, Palacios once more smashed the ball into the bottom corner after being booked for diving.
The victory also kept Leverkusen in the race for Europe, keeping them just three points behind sixth place.
Union Berlin recovers
In another match, Union Berlin gave their Champions League hopes a boost with a rare goal from Rani Khedira in a 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt, who are in the top six of the Bundesliga.
Union moved back into third place with a goal from Khedira, the brother of Sami, who won the World Cup in 2014. It was his seventh goal in 194 Bundesliga games.
Khedira stated to Dazn, “It is also my first goal for Union, so I am very happy.” Today’s focus was much more on mindset than tactics.
After being eliminated from European competition in the middle of the week, both teams entered the game having lost five consecutive games and attempting to rebound.
In the first half, Frankfurt had the majority of chances, and Daichi Kamada and Randal Kolo Muani both came close.
Khedira, however, prodded the ball home from close range after Frankfurt failed to clear a corner, giving the hosts the lead shortly after the break.
Sheraldo Becker nutmegged Frankfurt manager Kevin Trapp to find the net again for Association on 69 minutes, however, the strike was precluded for offside.
A few minutes later, Trapp let the ball pass through his legs once more, allowing Kevin Behrens to double the lead.
Union is now two points ahead of Freiburg, who climbed to fourth place with a 1-1 draw at Mainz and is unbeaten in 18 league games played at home.
When Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner made a mistake, Ritsu Doan, a Japan international, was able to steal in and score Freiburg’s second goal in two games. However, Karim Onisiwo’s late smash-and-grab equalizer in injury time cost them two points.