Stanisic and Grimaldo stun Bayern to extend Leverkusen’s Bundesliga lead

Despite Bayern Munich's ups and downs throughout the season, with criticisms, setbacks, and Bayer Leverkusen's outstanding performance, there has been one principle that has remained mostly unquestioned.

It was anticipated that Thomas Tuchel's team would revert to their natural style after securing their 12th consecutive Bundesliga title. It was thought that they would perform at their optimum level during crucial games like this one. However, they surprised everyone by performing in a completely unexpected way.

This wasn't just a loss, it was a blow to Bayern's pride and who they are as a team. It wasn't just a loss in the race for the title, Bayer Leverkusen played better with more speed, drive, and imagination.

In the meantime, Tuchel was outsmarted by Xabi Alonso, who solidified his position as a highly talented and successful young coach in the field. He showcased remarkable creativity in his team's selection, clever strategic moves, and effective substitution decisions.

The distance between the top team and the rest of the league has widened to a five-point lead. Despite this, discussions in Germany over the next few days and weeks will focus mainly on Bayern's disintegration, distress, and anger.

Honestly, I am very angry," declared Thomas Müller during a heated interview on television after the match. "As Oliver Kahn would say, we lack courage. Feeling pressure is fine, but we also need to have enthusiasm and independence. This issue is not only the coach's responsibility. At times, we must discuss the performance of the players as well."

Bayer Leverkusen showed unwavering confidence throughout the game, inspiring the rest of us to believe as well. The team's success was owed to impressive goals from Josip Stanisic and Álex Grimaldo, with Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka delivering exceptional performances in midfield. The icing on the cake was Jeremie Frimpong's stunning goal in the dying moments of the game. However, it's important to note that Leverkusen's victory was not just reliant on individual brilliance, but rather their collective teamwork and strategy.

The team works together by both defending and attacking as one, using players that can swap roles and move in unexpected ways while constantly applying pressure. In one recent match, Alonso decided to not have a traditional striker and instead had Amine Adli act as a false nine, with Nathan Tella on the right. Additionally, putting Stanisic in over Frimpong was another choice that surprised some. Alonso values flexibility and this showed in the team's performance, which was both creative and hard to predict, but also well-planned and tough in key moments.

The outcome was a match that was as full of texture as a David Lynch film. It was jam-packed with mystery, false leads, peculiar symbols, and undisclosed levels of significance. Why did supporters hurl candy onto the field? Why was Stanisic the lone athlete on his squad who failed to rejoice in his score? What was the rationale behind Bayern's full-backs swapping positions? And who was the spectator donning the garb of the pope?

On Saturday, in Serie A, the team Leaders Internazionale managed to make a comeback and win 4-2 against Roma. This led to Daniele De Rossi's winning start at the capital club coming to an end, as they were leading at half-time.

Inter widened the gap between themselves and Juventus, who sit in second place, by a margin of seven points. This occurred prior to Udinese's visit to Massimiliano Allegri's team on Monday. Furthermore, Inter has yet to play the match they missed in January which was the Italian Super Cup game held in Saudi Arabia.

Roma had a winning streak of three games under De Rossi since he became the new manager in January, but they began this game extremely quickly. Stephan El Shaarawy almost scored in the first minute, but his close-range shot was saved by Inter's goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

Instead, Inter's Francesco Acerbi scored a goal from a corner kick, assisted by Roma's Romelu Lukaku, in the 17th minute to give Inter the lead. A review using VAR was conducted to check for offside, but the goal was ultimately considered valid.

The Roma team fought hard and managed to score a goal with a header by Gianluca Mancini from a free-kick before the first 30 minutes of the match. Later, before the interval, El Shaarawy scored a goal for the home side by hitting a shot from a very narrow angle that bounced into the goal after hitting both posts.

On the other hand, Marcus Thuram equalized for Inter with a first-time shot close to the ground after four minutes of the second half with great enthusiasm. Afterward, Angelino from Roma accidentally put the ball into his own team's net, bringing back the lead for the visitors in the 56th minute.

During injury time, Alessandro Bastoni scored a great goal after receiving a pass from Marko Arnautovic, who came in as a substitute. This helped the visitors secure the win.

On Saturday, Lazio achieved a great victory with a score of 3-1 against Cagliari, who is struggling to avoid relegation. This triumph enabled Lazio to rise to the sixth position in the league standings.

Answering some questions was simpler than others. The treats were responsible for putting the game start off by eight minutes. They were utilized as part of a continuing demonstration by supporters throughout Germany against a proposed deal that intended to sell a part of the Bundesliga's media rights to private investors. The dressed-up costumes were for the weekend of Karneval. Currently, Stanisic is temporarily playing for Bayern. Maybe, Tuchel's choice to field Sacha Boey on the left side of defense was an effort to counter the speed of Frimpong, who didn't end up starting.

Bayern got defeated both in practice and in theory. Maybe one of the reasons why their defense appeared unsure was due to the lack of clarity on what they intended to protect. Perhaps, one of the factors why Harry Kane seemed invisible was that Bayern had no clue on how to involve him in the match. Consequently, the outcome was three goals that exhibited varying levels of frustration.

Stanisic scored his first goal because Bayern wasn't paying attention during the second phase of the play after Manuel Neuer made a save. Grimaldo's goal was a result of a straightforward give-and-go play, with Pavlovic unable to follow the run. The third goal happened during extra time, with Neuer surprisingly still up for a corner. Frimpong impressively curled the ball from approximately 30 yards to score.

Honestly, the lead could have been larger. Bayern hardly had any good opportunities throughout the entire game. Furthermore, it is only the month of February and Leverkusen has never won a championship in their past, so nothing has been confirmed yet. However, if it is still too soon to say that Bayern will continue to dominate, it has never appeared more uncertain.