Bayern denied by Leverkusen late show before Manchester United test | Andy Brassell

Xabi Alonso, perhaps Bayern’s coach of the future, was able to thwart the club whose midfield he once graced

Even at the close of over 98 absorbing minutes, there was enough energy in their (unfamiliarly) green-clad legs to make a beeline in the same direction. Thomas Tuchel and a few of his players, led by Thomas Müller and Sven Ulreich, made plain their unhappiness to referee Daniel Schlager and his team – mainly at the penalty given to Leverkusen for Alphonso Davies’ challenge on Jonas Hofmann late on and, perhaps, the even later ruling out of a potential Dayot Upamecano winner, with the clear offside not stopping some of those on the Bayern Munich bench pointing towards the VAR screen.

Whether you thought they had a point or not they, and most of the fans inside the Allianz Arena, with boos ringing out at the whistle, were in the minority. This laying down of an early-season gauntlet, not just in terms of result but in its manner, was a timely shot in the arm for the Bundesliga. There were moments when Bayern looked like Bayern, moved like Bayern. Yet what we ended up with was far less clear-cut, replete with possibility.

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