Saturday 12 May 2012. It wasn't just a disheartening outcome but the ultimate disgrace in a season brimming with them. That was the day when Bayern Munich were ignited into becoming the dominant force that held the Bundesliga tightly for over a decade. The result was significant. That it was against Borussia Dortmund, their now-medium-term annoyance, was another matter. But a 5-2 loss in the final of the DFB-Pokal, the German FA Cup? It was unbearable. It evoked the scene in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused where freshmen Mitch and Carl peek around the door to mock senior O’Bannion after Mitch’s mother chases him off the lawn with her shotgun, as he prepares to initiate them with his bat. Their cheeky farewell pushes O’Bannion over the edge, and he vows revenge amidst a torrent of curses. Similarly, Dortmund’s triumphant lap around a defeated Bayern in the Pokal final not only made them swear revenge but also promise a long and painful one.

Fast forward 12 years, and this Saturday evening, Bayer Leverkusen travel to Bavaria to see how sharply they have provoked the bear themselves. Xabi Alonso’s team has so far taken only one Bundesliga title from Bayern (unlike Dortmund’s two consecutive under Jürgen Klopp) but did so with an authority that even the Rekordmeister has never matched. Leverkusen’s unbeaten 2023-24 Bundesliga season was the first in the competition’s history and was achieved with remarkable flair. There’s a reason why Alonso was Bayern’s first choice in their lengthy summer search for a coach, partly due to his history with the club. Winning alone isn’t enough for Bayern, and hasn’t been for a long time.

Yet if Bayern should aim (though they wouldn’t publicly admit it) to emulate Leverkusen this season, the reality is that the champions are resembling recent versions of Bayern more. On the surface, everything looks favorable for Alonso and co, with Die Werkself second, having bounced back from their first Bundesliga defeat in 462 days, by RB Leipzig, with two consecutive victories, scoring eight goals. The truth is that Leverkusen heavily relies on individual brilliance to mask collective shortcomings. Florian Wirtz has started the campaign in top form, scoring more than a goal per game. It’s Ballon d’Or caliber, though in recent times, the award often hinges on the team’s achievements around the player, and Wirtz might be left stranded by a side lacking collective discipline.

The defensive cracks that appeared late last season, with the title secured, have turned into gaping fissures. Leverkusen has conceded nine goals in the first four Bundesliga games, after allowing 24 in the entire last season. “Nine goals conceded is obviously too many,” Alonso lamented after last weekend’s 4-3 win over Wolfsburg. “If we continue like this, we won’t have much chance of achieving something significant.” Granit Xhaka, Alonso’s on-field representative, doubled down, unprompted. “We call ourselves a top team,” the midfielder said, “but a top team doesn’t concede three goals in 45 minutes.” Leverkusen’s defensive issues loom large given Bayern’s high-scoring form, with Michael Olise seamlessly partnering with Harry Kane et al.

Fortunately, Xhaka delivers home truths when needed. “We expect leadership qualities from him,” sporting director Simon Rolfes said in the recent Amazon Prime documentary about the club’s record-breaking season, “that he can be unpleasant at the right moment and can ignite the team.” If a surge of aggravation can motivate, there’s plenty of tension elsewhere between the reigning champions and the holders. There’s the aftermath of Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro’s leaked criticism of Bayern’s head of sport, Max Eberl, stemming from Eberl’s public disapproval of Leverkusen signing Wirtz from Köln’s academy, not to mention the mooted (and protracted) move to Bayern for defender Jonathan Tah that fell through. Yet Leverkusen knows that to sustain this rivalry, they must significantly tighten up on Saturday afternoon.