Bayern Munich stay top as Leipzig miss two open goals

Bayern Munich 0-0 RB Leipzig, Allianz Arena

RB Leipzig missed two open goals as the headline clash between the Bundesliga's top two clubs ended in a goalless draw on Sunday.

Marcel Sabitzer and Timo Werner were guilty of two huge misses in the second half to let Bayern off the hook. The first fell to Sabitzer a minute into the second half, but he lost his head and blazed over from close range. Christopher Nkunku then put it on a plate for Werner, but the Leipzig forward somehow stabbed the ball wide from close range.

This came after the Bavarians had dominated the first half and missed a host of chances of their own, with Bayern's Robert Lewandowski thwarted on the line. He thought he'd won a penalty for his side when he was tripped in the box by Dayot Upamecano's clumsy challenge, but VAR was on the spot to rule it out for offside, with the Pole having strayed beyond the last man before the foul took place.

Despite's Leipzig's significant second half improvement after a shift to a more attacking strategy, Bayern could have won it late on when Leon Goretzka went clean through — only to be denied by a fine save by Leipzig keeper Peter Gulacsi.

The result is a let-off for Bayern and Leipzig's closest title rivals, Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach, who both remain in the hunt, while Bayern miss the chance to go four points clear at the top.

 

As it happened:

90'+3 — FULL TIME — All over and the title race lives on! An entertaining game which could have gone either way, but poor finishing — particularly from Leipzig — sees it finish goalless.

90'+2 Lookman leads the break for Leipzig but his cross towards Werner is brilliantly cut out by Kimmich who sprinted a long way back to make a crucial interception. 

90' Just three added minutes... 

87' Kimmich whips in a free-kick from the right but the closest player to it is Pavard, who swings a leg at it and misses.

85' Coman is on for Goretzka. It's the Frenchman's first minutes since mid-December and a final roll of the dice for Hansi Flick.

83' Leipzig have 16 goals and Bayern have 13 in the final 15 minutes of games in the Bundesliga this season — so don't rule a late winner here!

82' How is this game goalless?

80' What a miss, what a save! Goretzka goes clean through but Gulacsi pulls off a magnificent stop. Top class stop, but really Goretzka has to score there. 

77' Leipzig seem to have one eye on the final whistle now. Just starting to sit a little deeper.

74' Bayern seeing more of the ball now, but they're struggling to do very much with it. 

71' Leipzig pressing a lot more in this second half and it's paying off for them — if only Sabitzer and Werner could finish!

69' Schick comes on for Olmo for Leipzig.

67' Hernandez is on for Boateng, who apeears to be injured.

64' Werner is three games without a goal and with misses like that, it'll soon be four.

63' What a miss by Werner! Oh my word, what a miss. Nkunku puts it on a plate for Werner, who has the whole goal to aim at, but stabs it wide with a first-time shot.

60' Bayern's first change of the game sees Coutinho come on for Gnabry, who has had a poor game.

57' Kimmich gets his customary yellow for a rash one on Werner, who gingerly gets back to his feet.

56' That's revved up the home fans and Bayern are back on the front foot.  

54' PENALTY! Lewandowski is fouled in the box by Upamecano and Bayern have a spot-kick BUT replays show the Lewandowski was offside. VAR rules it out.

52' Upamecano picks up a yellow for a rugby tackle on Müller.

51' A storming start to the second half by Leipzig.

49' Another chance for Leipzig! Neuer races way out of his goal, Werner pokes it past him but can only drill his shot into Alaba's body. A hint of handball against Alaba, but the Austrian could do little about it.

47' What a miss! Sabitzer misses what is effectively an open goal for Leipzig. Bayer were completely stretched at the back after the restart and the ball is rolled into Sabitzer's path, but he loses his head and blazes over from 12 yards. What a huge miss.

46' SECOND HALF — We're back underway.

45' — HALF TIME — That's the first 45 done and dusted and it's goalless in Munich. Not a great game, if I'm being completely honest.

44' Nkunku has only touched the ball 12 times in the first half.

43' Olmo has a great chance to play in Werner with Davies out of position, but he doesn't and Werner is apoplectic.

40' Werner forces his way into the box and drills a low ball into the six yard box, but Boateng is there again with the clearance.

38' Off the line! Lewandowski's shot is deflected centimeters wide of the post. 

35' Yellow for Laimer, who quite blatantly pulls Davies' shirt.

33' BREAKING: Alphonso Davies is the same speed as a bottlenose dolphin (source: National Geographic).

30' Boateng with a crucial flick, with Nkunku lurking at the back stick.

27' Bayern controlling things but they've missed a few chances so far, and that will concern Hansi Flick. Leipzig sitting quite deep and playing a clear counter-attack stategy. 

24' Gnabry exchanges passes with Thiago and finds Lewandowski, whose shot is partially blocked at the expense of a Bayern corner, but Leipzig hoist it clear in search of Werner — but the ball runs away from the Germany striker.

22' Leipzig get their first sight of goal and it falls to the man already with 20 goals to his name this season. But this time Timo Werner's effort is wayward, and well wide of Manual Neuer's goal.

19' The German Cup quarterfinal draw has just been made at this convenient time...

17' Bayern have clocked 76% possession so far...

15' Our man on the ground is salivating over Thiago's performance so far...

13' RB Leipzig don't look liek Bayern's closest Bundesliga challengers at the moment. They're coming into it slowly, but Bayern look very comfortable. Still goalless though...

11' Another Bayern chance as Davies stretches his legs down the left flank and delivers a tempting low cross that evades everyone. Müller picks it up on the far side and feeds Goretzka, whose shot is closed down.

9' Müller gets a chance but doesn't see enough of it to get a clean shot away.

7' Thiago has scored in his last three games, incidentally.

6' A sizzling shot by the in-form Thiago, who bends one towards the top corner — but Gulacsi pulls off a nice one-handed save.

4' Great tracking back by Davies, whose pace allows him to get back and recover for Bayern.  

2' Bayern on the front foot straight away as Pavard swings a cross in from the right. It causes confusion in the Leipzig box for a brief moments before it's hacked clear.

18:00 KICK OFF! It's show time in Munich...

17:50 The warm-ups are done and the players are assembling in the tunnel. Kick-off is approaching...

17:40 Tonight's game is also the meeting of Germany's sharpest shooters, Robert Lewandowski and Timo Werner. Their stats speak for themselves...

17:25 To put it bluntly, Leipzig do not have a good record against Bayern (who does?). The Red Bull club have failed to score in three attempts at the Allianz, and have only beaten them once in nine meetings.

17:10 Julian Nagelsmann makes two changes from the side that fouhgt back to draw 2-2 with Gladbach last weekend. Olmo and Angelino come in, Forsberg and Mukiele drop to the bench.

17:00 The teams are in! One change for Bayern from the team that cast aside Mainz last weekend. Serge Gnabry returns in place of the injured Ivan Perisic, who is out for around four weeks with an ankle injury. Kingsley Coman returns to the bench too, after almost two months out. Otherwise, it's as you were for the Bundesliga champs.

16:45 DW reporter Pascal Jochem is at the Allianz Arena, where a storm is brewing.

 

16:30 Since Bayern lost 2-1 at Borussia Mönchengladbach on December 7, their record under Hansi Flick has been rather tasty...

16:00 Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Bundesliga's top-of the-table clash, Bayern Munich vs RB Leipzig. It's a big one, and we'll have all the team news and latest action as soon as it drops.