Bayern Munich 3-1 Bayer Leverkusen: Debutants Dominate as Bavarians Win Bundesliga Opener

Defending champions Bayern Munich opened the Bundesliga season with a comfortable XXXX win over Bayer Leverkusen on a rainy night at the Allianz Arena.

Robert Lewandowski got off the mark in his pursuit of a third German Golden Boot award thanks to a VAR-awarded penalty, but it was a pair of debutants who are likely to dominate the headlines come Saturday morning. 

Starting fast against a Leverkusen team who conceded more goals from set-pieces than any other Bundesliga side last season, Sebastian Rudy swung in a free-kick from the left-hand side for Niklas Süle to head home just nine minutes into his league debut for the Bavarians. 

Things went from bad to worse for the away side less than 10 minutes later, when a complete failure to clear the ball from a corner allowed Arturo Vidal to lift the ball to the back post for the second goal of the night from a debutant - this time Corentin Tolisso, who also smanged a shot off the post just minutes later. 

It wasn't until the second half, delayed by the torrential rain in Munich, that Bayern struck for a third time through Lewandowski from the penalty spot - having looked shaky at the back for much of the first period. 

A complete lack of anything clinical from Leverkusen in the first hour kept goalkeeper Sven Ulreich's record clean, but Swiss forward Admir Mehmedi righted the many wrongs of his teammates with 25 minutes left to play; hammering the ball home off the underside of the bar to back up the idea that Bayern are, if still favourites for the league title, then still weaker than in previous years. 

Dominik Kohr was one of the worst offenders in the Leverkusen attack, and spurned a brilliant chance to redeem himself for his myriad misses when presented with a free header just five minutes after Mehmedi's goal. 

He missed. The score remained 3-1. Bayern saw the game out comfortably. Plus ça change, or whatever the German version of that saying is.