Xabi Alonso continues to haunt his former employers Bayern Munich.
Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen played out a 0-0 draw with Bayern in a contest that had been billed as a potential title decider.
The result made it six games unbeaten for Alonso in his first six games against Bayern as a manager.
It cemented Alonso’s place in history given no other head coach in Germany had enjoyed such a lengthy undefeated streak against the Bavarian giants.
The Spaniard surpassed Ernst Happel – who went unbeaten in his first four matches against Bayern as Hamburg coach in the 1980s – in the record books back in December.
Alonso’s record as Leverkusen boss against Bayern now stands at three wins and three draws, with nine goals scored and just four conceded.
However, Alonso will have felt aggrieved the record did not read four wins and two draws after Saturday’s fixture.
Despite Bayern going into the clash at the top of the Bundesliga, it was reigning champions Leverkusen who were left scratching their heads at how they didn’t score.
Nathan Tella and Jeremie Frimpong hit the woodwork for Leverkusen in the first half as Bayern continuously rode their luck.
Bayern boss Vincent Kompany rolled the dice by bringing on Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka and Leroy Sane in the 68th minute but it failed to ignite their attack.
As for English superstar Harry Kane, who has 21 league goals to his name, he was left feeling a little worse for wear after his jaw collided with Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie.
Kane looked to get on the end of a Bayern free-kick, but he only made connection with Hincapie’s shoulder as the Leverkusen defender nipped in to head the ball out for a corner.
The Englishman appeared to be in some discomfort after the challenge and required medical attention.
Luckily for Bayern, Kane was able to continue but he could not add to his 21-goal haul.
In total, Bayern had just two shots the entire game with neither on target.
Leverkusen ultimately finished the contest with an expected goals figure (xG) of 2.23 to Bayern’s 0.14, emphasising the dominant nature of the home side’s display.
Alonso’s side also completed over 90 more passes than Bayern.
But Kompany’s side evaded every haymaker Leverkusen threw at them to secure what could prove to be a valuable draw.
The result ensured Bayern’s eight-point buffer between them and Leverkusen remained intact as they look to wrestle back the league title from Alonso’s side.
Luckily for Leverkusen, they hold an eight-point advantage over third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, although that could shrink to just five points should the latter beat Bundesliga strugglers Holstein Kiel on Sunday.
Leverkusen’s next fixture is against Holstein Kiel on February 22 while Bayern welcome Frankfurt to the Allianz Arena the following day.
