Granit Xhaka highlighted his team’s “pure mentality” as Florian Wirtz scored in the 11th minute of stoppage time to secure a 3-2 win for Bayer Leverkusen against Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga opener on Friday.
Leverkusen led comfortably at halftime with Xhaka scoring a long-range strike and Wirtz adding another goal.
In a rainy Borussia Park, Gladbach’s Nico Elvedi reduced the deficit with a goal in the 59th minute. Tim Kleindienst then equalized with five minutes remaining. A delay in the second half due to flares set off by home supporters resulted in an extended period of added time.
In the 10th minute of stoppage time, Ko Itakura fouled Amine Adli in the penalty area, leading to a penalty kick for Wirtz. Wirtz’s initial attempt was saved, but he scored on the rebound, marking the latest goal in Bundesliga history.
Xhaka commented on the match, stating, “We started well in the first half and were dominant. We said at half-time we don’t want to let them back into it. They came back but again we showed our pure mentality and we can take the three points back to Leverkusen from a difficult away match.”
Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso expressed his surprise, saying, “I have no explanation for that. It’s football. It’s happened for us a lot.”
Wirtz, 21, expressed satisfaction with the responsibility of taking the penalty, noting, “I know that at the end it was a bit lucky, but I don’t want to complain. We’re happy that we won at the end. We made it a bit hard for ourselves. There’s plenty of things we need to keep working on but we can be happy we got the three points today.”
Leverkusen, who completed an unbeaten league and cup double last season, added another trophy to their collection by winning the German Supercup against Stuttgart last Saturday.
Gladbach, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, were impacted by the absence of star midfielder Manu Kone, who was left out of the squad due to an impending transfer.
Xhaka opened the scoring for Leverkusen with a powerful long-range shot in the 13th minute, and Wirtz doubled the lead in the 38th minute. Gladbach’s Elvedi reduced the lead with a header in the 59th minute, and Kleindienst equalized in the 85th minute.
In the final moments of stoppage time, Adli’s fall in the box led to a VAR review and a penalty for Leverkusen, which Wirtz converted after his initial shot was saved.
The match was the first Bundesliga opener without Bayern Munich since 2013.
