Xabi Alonso rues dropped points after Leverkusen dominate Bayern

Bayer had Bayern in a death grip, but poor finishing combined with phenomenal defending and goalkeeping saw the scoreboard stay blank

The current holders - who shocked the footballing world by winning the Bundesliga title and going the entire season unbeaten, had a string of chances but could not capitalise.

In the 21st minute Alex Grimaldo sent Florian Wirtz into the box and he fired from a tight angle, but was denied by Manuel Neuer. The ball rebounded into the centre, where Jeremie Frimpong cleverly positioned himself and thundered a free header against the crossbar with the keeper well beaten.

About four minutes later, Granit Xhaka won the ball back and launched a rapid counter-attack down the left. The lightning-fast Tella sprinted into the box faster than the Bayern defence and, completely unmarked, volleyed against the bar.

A clever corner combination in the 66th minute created the next big opportunity: a long cross was met by Jonathan Tah with a header from the centre of the six-yard box, leaving Tella free to shoot, but Ito positioned himself perfectly on the goal line and leapt to block Tella's header.

In the second half, Leverkusen were no longer able to get forward as effectively as they had done in the first as Bayern continued to eschew their high press for a focus on defensive duties. Bayern were stable in a slightly deeper block and allowed precious little to get through. Many small breakthroughs from Leverkusen yielded very little significant danger, at least until the first minute of stoppage time.

The final chance came when Grimaldo latched onto the ball before crossing powerfully to the penalty spot. There, Amine Adli (subbed on for Tella) was able to shoot on the volley, but it was straight at Neuer, who made the save. The rebound fell for Wirtz, who also missed, shooting just wide to the left.

Had Wirtz got the ball on the right side of the post, it would have been a fitting end to a tactical battle in which Alonso had clearly gotten the better of Kompany. In what has become their trademark style, Leverkusen would have taken a late 1-0 lead and completely reignited the title race.

"We have mixed feelings," admitted Alonso after the game. "We played our best game against Bayern this year and maybe last year too. I have to give my team a big compliment. We are not so happy with the result, but that's football."

So, while it will remain a tactical masterpiece by Xabi Alonso, it didn't move the needle in the title race.

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