Over the weekend, Bayern Munich faced Bayer Leverkusen on the road, and despite taking a 1-0 lead through Joshua Kimmich, die Roten ultimately went on to lose the match 2-1.
That result sees Julian Naglesmann's side slide to second in the table, one point behind new league leaders Borussia Dortmund. For neutrals hopeful to see Bayern's domination of the Bundesliga finally come to a conclusion, this weekend's results appear to be a glimmer of hope at seeing that happen, but for Bayern supporters, it certainly will be a major source of concern.
If Bayern fans are worried, well, clearly, the team's executives are fuming, as evidenced by the angry reaction from sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic following the team's capitulation at the weekend. Salihamidzic did not mince his words when speaking to DAZN after the game.
"We let ourselves be overrun by a team that [played in the Europa League] on Thursday. Bayer was better in every respect," he noted.
"[To be honest], I've rarely experienced so little drive, so little mentality, so little duel, so little assertiveness. This team is so good when they have a [good] mentality from the start and go 100 percent. [But today, they were absolutely awful],...they were lazy and think that can do anything [with a lack of seriousness and focus]".
The loss marks the second in Bayern's last five games, and now sees them a point behind Dortmud, who they will play in a crunch Klassiker tie at the start of April after the latest international break comes to an end.
Bayern now also have Union Berlin, who are having an outstanding season, just four points behind, which means that a negative result from Der Klassiker coupled with a good one for Union Berlin against relegation-threatened Stuttgart could see Naglesmann's side facing even more increasing pressure as the season approaches its latter stages.
