Bayern Munich saw their seven-match winning streak in all competitions come to an end after battling to a dramatic 1–1 draw away to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, despite finishing the match with nine men and surviving a late VAR scare.
The hosts made a bright start and took the lead in the sixth minute through Aleix García.
Bayern had earlier lost possession through Luis Díaz, allowing Leverkusen to launch a quick attack that ended with García blasting a rising effort into the roof of the net.
Bayern’s situation worsened shortly before half-time when Nicolas Jackson was sent off.
The striker initially received a yellow card for a high challenge on Martin Terrier, but a VAR review upgraded the decision to a red card.
The visitors struggled to respond in the first half, managing just one shot on target through Jackson, which was comfortably saved by Janis Blaswich.
Leverkusen also thought they had doubled their lead when Jonathan Tah converted a free-kick delivery from Michael Olise, but VAR ruled the ball had struck his elbow.
After the break, Leverkusen continued to threaten with chances for Ibrahim Maza, Patrik Schick and Malik Tillman, while Díaz fired over at the other end.
Harry Kane was introduced just after the hour mark and almost made an immediate impact. The England captain closed down Blaswich’s clearance and turned the ball into the net, but VAR ruled the effort out for handball.
Bayern eventually found their equaliser in the 69th minute. A misplaced pass from Leverkusen captain Robert Andrich was intercepted by Olise, who quickly released Díaz to finish calmly past Blaswich.
However, Díaz’s evening took another twist when the Colombian winger was shown a second yellow card in the 84th minute, leaving Bayern with nine men for the closing stages.
Leverkusen thought they had snatched a dramatic winner in the third minute of stoppage time when Jonas Hofmann saw his deflected effort loop over Sven Ulreich. But VAR intervened once more to rule out the goal.
Despite the late escape, Bayern’s lead at the top of the table was trimmed to nine points after Borussia Dortmund defeated FC Augsburg.
