The Japan Times - Bayern fail to make most of Leverkusen slip with Dortmund draw

After defending champions Leverkusen were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Union Berlin, Bayern knew a win would have moved them eight points clear with five games to play.

Dortmund took the lead through Maximilian Beier in the 48th minute but Bayern hit back with two goals in four minutes, before Waldemar Anton equalised for the visitors with 15 minutes remaining.

"We've moved a step closer to the championship and we've shown we can create plenty of opportunities," said Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who will leave the club after 25 years at the end of the season.

"That should help us in the Champions League on Wednesday," Mueller added of next week's Champions League quarter-final second leg at Inter Milan, with Bayern facing a 2-1 first-leg deficit,

"(We need) to be more clinical," said Harry Kane. "We'll have opportunities, it's about taking them in the right moments."

Usually the standout fixture on the German football calendar, the buzz around the match was comparatively muted.

The visitors, who trail Barcelona 4-0 in their Champions League quarter-final, arrived in Munich sitting nine spots and 27 points behind in the table.

Bayern, enduring an injury crisis, were camped out near Dortmund's box for almost the entire first half.

Visiting goalkeeper Gregor Kobel needed to snuff out big chances for Kane and Michael Olise.

Seemingly on the ropes at half-time, Dortmund opened the scoring three minutes into the second period, Beier heading between Bayern goalkeeper Jonas Urbig's legs to finish off a counter-attack.

With Dortmund in the ascendancy and probing for a second, Kompany brought on Serge Gnabry and the move worked a treat.

The former Arsenal winger created the equaliser for former Dortmund midfielder Raphael Guerreiro on 65 minutes and then scored a goal of his own four minutes later, slaloming through the visiting defence before hammering home.

Dortmund hit back to level again when Anton knocked in a rebound from a Serhou Guirassy shot.

Bayern remain six points ahead of Leverkusen and closing in on regaining the title.

Nursing an ongoing Achilles injury, Bayern centre-back Kim Min-jae was substituted in the second half, leaving the Bavarians with just one fit central defender.

- Leverkusen held at home -

Despite welcoming back star midfielder Florian Wirtz from a foot injury, Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen lacked fluency in attack, carving out few clear-cut opportunities against Union Berlin.

Wirtz came on after 57 minutes and despite giving his side an initial boost, was unable to break down Union's defence.

Granit Xhaka had a free-kick from the edge of the box in stoppage time but blasted his shot well over the bar.

"We're dropping too many points at home," Leverkusen captain Hradecky said.

"Mathematically there's a small chance (of defending the title), but the probability has decreased."

The draw continues a poor April for last season's unbeaten domestic double winners, who were eliminated from the German Cup semi-finals by third-division Arminia Bielefeld.

The draw lifted Union to 34 points, 12 clear of the relegation play-off spot.

The Berliners have taken 11 points from an unbeaten five-game run against Leverkusen, Bayern, Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg and Wolfsburg.

Borussia Moenchengladbach's hopes of returning to the Champions League took a hit with a 2-1 home loss to Freiburg.

Freiburg snatched all three points when Johan Manzambi scored a 90th-minute header, allowing the visitors to leapfrog their opponents into sixth.

Augsburg continued their strong 2025 with a 2-1 win at lowly Bochum, climbing past Dortmund into eighth. Augsburg have only lost one of their past 13 games.

Elsewhere, Hoffenheim took a step towards beating the drop with a 2-0 home win over Champions League hopefuls Mainz, with Andrej Kramaric scoring a brace.

St Pauli also boosted their hopes of top-division football next season with a 2-1 win over fellow promoted side Holstein Kiel.

S.Ogawa--JT