11 February 2024 , 08:23
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Bayern Munich were hammered by Bayer Leverkusen in their Bundesliga title showdown with Josip Stanisic scoring against the club who loaned him out.
The 23-year-old is spending the season under Xabi Alonso and came up with the opening goal as the title hopefuls downed the side who have dominated German football for a decade. Stanisic tapped home from a cross to set the league leaders on their way on Saturday night.
Thomas Tuchel's side are now five points off top spot and the ex-Chelsea boss could be the first Bayern boss in more than ten years to let go of the German title. He was left fuming that a loanee was allowed to play against their parent club, citing the English rule as much more effective.
He said: "In England there's a nice rule where when you loan a player out, they can't play against you. For me that makes more sense. The rule unfortunately doesn't exist in Germany."
Alex Grimaldo scored early in the second-half to put Leverkusen in full control of the contest before Jeremie Frimpong completed a memorable evening by scoring a breakaway goal when Manuel Neuer had gone up for a corner.
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Veteran star Thomas Muller, who has won the Bundesliga 12 times, seemed to take issue with the team's tactics. He said: "There are of course some symptoms on the pitch. To be honest, I'm p**sed off. To quote Oliver Kahn: 'What I miss from us players are the balls in the game'. We are showing significantly better approaches in training. It's okay to feel pressure, but there needs to be energy and freedom. That's missing in our game."
Josip Stanisic refused to celebrate against his parent clubDespite that the German refused to lay the blame for the defeat at Tuchel's doorstep. "Sometimes we have to speak about us players. It's not just about the coach," he added. "We have many international players at the highest level, we need to step up our game."
The win for Leverkusen furthered the credentials and the appeal of Alonso, who is being linked with some of Europe's top jobs. Despite his managerial career being in its infancy the Spaniard is hotly tipped to take over from Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. Bayern, another of Alonso's former clubs, have also been linked with the sought after boss.
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