FC Bayern 5-1 Bayer Leverkusen: An Extremely Unexpected and Excellent Scoreline.

"Bayern took most of their chances today." This is the sentence that has not even once been used this season. Today, for the first time this season, Bayern did so and took down second-placed Leverkusen in style.

What was most impressive about Bayern today was the fact that they pressed the opposition constantly in midfield into losing the ball. Bayern, at the beginning of the season had a lazy swagger about them–they held the ball well, slowed the pace down and patiently broke the opposition down.

The opposition then started adapting and pressed Bayern into losing the ball in midfield. As all the players or at least nine of the players would be up field, Bayern would get caught out easily at the back after losing the ball under Louis Van Gaal this season.

Andries Jonker decided that Bayern needed more energy about them. Today, they pressed Leverkusen into submission. Leverkusen employed a high risk strategy. After going a goal down early when the unfortunate Simon Rolfes turned the ball into his own net, Leverkusen dedicated everyone to the attack. Bayern made them lose the ball up field and countered. As so many Leverkusen players were committed forward, Bayern looked like scoring whenever they moved forward.

Jonker changed things up. Toni Kroos was not present on the substitutes bench. This was a surprise as no news had broken out about a possible Kroos injury. Daniel Van Buyten started in central defence alongside Luis Gustavo. Philipp Lahm, as usual, started on the right flank. Danijel Pranjic started on the left but had to be replaced after 15 minutes due to injury. Diego Contento stepped in.

Bastian Schweinsteiger and Anatoliy Tymoschchuk lined up alongside each other in defensive midfield while Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller patrolled the flanks. Miroslav Klose slotted in behind the main striker, Mario Gomez. The formation turned out to be a 4-5-1 rather than an expected 4-4-2. Bayern broke the deadlock in the seventh minute as mentioned previously.

Arturo Vidal gifted the energetic Thomas Mueller the ball for the second. Mueller set up Gomez. Gomez added two more for his hat-trick before half-time. With the score being 4-0 at half-time, the contest was as good as finished. Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller lit the pitch up. Tymo was extremely solid as was Schweinsteiger. The duo of Van Buyten and Gustavo snuffed out any threats provided by the Leverkusen attackers. Renato Augusto, the extremely gifted Brazilian, was nowhere to be seen.

Bayern laid back after the interval and eventually Leverkusen scored through Eren Derdiyok after a mix up which saw Schweini almost turn the ball into his own net. Bayern starting attacking following the goal and Franck Ribery duly scored Bayern's fifth. The entire team worked hard; the German commentator was particularly awed at Klose's tackle on Michael Ballack close to Hans Jorg Butt's goal. Klose put in a good all round performance as a midfielder.

Leverkusen somehow managed to mess up their recent record completely. They had perhaps not expected Bayern to approach the game in the style in which they did. Vidal and Ballack had torrid and forgettable nights. The Leverkusen back-four was so poor, that they looked beaten every time Bayern attacked. Bayern hit the post late on in the game and Leverkusen must have counted themselves slightly lucky at that point. Dortmund won and as a result, it was pretty much confirmed that Dortmund will finish as the champions at the end of the season.

Arjen Robben and his family were in the stands, cheering on Bayern. Bayern reclaimed third spot from Hanover as Hanover drew yesterday against Hamburg. Bayern's performance today absolutely showed that with Van Gaal's departure, the players felt that they could perform again in the way in which they wanted. They looked free and they worked like a team. Without Arjen Robben tonight, nobody could say that the game was a one-man show.

Most importantly, today's game gave plenty of hope to the fans and to the team. The Allianz Arena was rocking today; I don't think any fan even imagined that the game would progress as it did. If Bayern's continues to show desire and play like they played today, Bayern can be hopeful of winning the remaining four games of the season and gleefully heading into the Champions League qualifiers.