Nine months ago, Leon Goretzka had no future at Bayern Munich.
In fact, that has been the case for much of the past two years — and yet, when he left the BayArena pitch on Tuesday, substituted towards the end of Bayern’s 2-0 Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen (5-0 on aggregate), it was to thunderous applause from the travelling supporters and a grateful hug from Vincent Kompany, his head coach.
Goretzka was terrific in both games. Bayern owed their win to many players and Kompany drew excellent performances from the breadth of his side.
Harry Kane, Alphonso Davies, Dayot Upamecano and Jamal Musial all stood out in different ways, but Goretzka provided the steady, physical beat upon which Bayern’s superiority was built.
Trailing 3-0 from the first leg, Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen needed something miraculous on Tuesday. With Florian Wirtz unavailable through injury, their task seemed almost impossible. Still, there were moments when Bayern’s defensive doors creaked open and the occasion threatened to come alive.
Invariably, those chances were shut down. Most often, it was Goretzka slamming the doors and keeping the night processional.
After 30 minutes, he covered for a Joshua Kimmich mistake in midfield by rushing back deep into his own half, sliding to tackle Patrick Schick as the forward was ready to shoot.
Just before half-time, he broke up a final Leverkusen attack with a tackle on the near touchline. And then in the minutes after the break, when the ball broke to Jeremie Frimpong just outside the Leverkusen box, with yards of space to run away into, Goretzka steamed in — all pistons and effort — to take man and ball, and skittle Frimpong across the grass.
This was vintage Goretzka. Big Leon: the original version.
It was the culmination of a recent burst of form that nobody saw coming. Goretzka’s career at Bayern has appeared over for some time. Back in the summer of 2023, Thomas Tuchel consistently left him out during the club’s tour of Singapore, speaking publicly about the need to rebalance his midfield and throwing his weight behind Bayern’s (unsuccessful) attempt to sign Joao Palhinha.
Leon Goretzka has fallen down Bayern’s midfield pecking order in recent seasons (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Goretzka started plenty of games under Tuchel — all but one during last season’s run to the Champions League semi-finals — but the suspicion that he was not quite what his coach needed or wanted never went away. Nor did the negativity surrounding him or the perception that his best days were in the past.
He lost his place in the German national team and, but for a very large contract that he was loathe to leave behind, he would have been sold by Bayern, too.
Vincent Kompany arrival last summer did not improve the situation. This time, Bayern did complete a deal for Palhinha and Christoph Freund, speaking in a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s game, remembers telling Goretzka that his chances for first-team football would be limited.
“We communicated openly with him in the summer that it would be difficult,” Freund recalled. “But he said he wanted to take on the fight and he would stay here.“
Goretzka has not pouted or sulked. He was deeply hurt by the loss of his place in the national team and, while Julian Nagelsmann did include him in his initial squads in late 2023, Goretzka was left out of the 2024 European Championship. He was not even called up when Aleksandar Pavlovic, his 20-year-old Bayern team-mate, had to withdraw because of tonsillitis on the eve of the tournament.
Truly, it has been a humbling time, especially for a player who has won the Bundesliga five times, the Champions League in 2020, and who, as recently as three years ago, would have commanded a place in almost any team in European football. Goretzka had been the model of the modern No 8 and yet, beyond Tuchel’s tactical concerns, there was a suspicion that his legs had grown heavy and that he was no longer worth the contract Bayern gave him in 2022.
By the beginning of October 2024, he had played less than an hour of Bundesliga football for Kompany. He did not start a game until the second week of November. But gradually, moment by moment, he barged his way back into the side.
Bayern’s players celebrate their progression into the Champions League quarter-finals (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)
Ironically, Palhinha has headed in the opposite direction, struggling for consistent form, suffering from injuries and, most recently, picking up what could have been a costly red card against Bochum last weekend.
Goretzka has only improved. With an eight-point advantage in the league, Bayern headed to Stuttgart at the end of February to face one of the last obstacles between them and the title. Goretzka was monstrous. Physically abrasive and energised, he changed that game almost through force of will, pressing a dreadful error out of Angelo Stiller — a Bavarian-born, Bayern-bred midfielder tipped to return one day — before dispatching the loose ball and putting his side 2-1 in front.
When Bayern do eventually clinch the Bundesliga, Goretzka’s celebration of that goal will be one if its defining images. He ran away wild-eyed towards the fans, banging his chest with defiance.
“Hats off to his performances and how he handled the situation; that says a lot about his character,” Freund said earlier this week, thinking back. “He took his chance and we will see what the future brings.
“There are certainly some guys who might have let their heads go down and said that the situation is not fair or not right. But he kept training, got the rewards, and is now playing really well. He’s a really important factor for us at the moment.
“I see him as a role model for many footballers when the situation is a little more difficult.”
Goretzka celebrates his goal against VfB Stuttgart in February (Thomas Kienzle/AFP via Getty Images)
Goretzka has relished the challenge of his revitalising his career. His current contract ends in 2026 and there is no certainty that he will be offered an extension. He turned 30 in February, meaning that any offer is unlikely to be on similar terms. But his use to Bayern has certainly not expired and with Nagelsmann set to announce his Germany squad on Thursday, perhaps international football is not beyond him, either. Not on this form, certainly.
Bayern against Leverkusen was more competitive than it sounds. Both games hinged on emotional resilience and, ultimately, a series of little battles, all of which Bayern and Goretzka seemed to win. Comprehensively. Physically. In the air. On the ground. In the mind. With a strong tackle, tough enough to make a point.
For all that physicality, perhaps his best moment was his most delicate touch. In the first half, an early Bayern attack ended with a big punt clear, up into the sky and almost to the height of the BayArena’s roof. Goretzka tracked back, watching the ball spin in the floodlights as opposition players pressed him, sensing a clumsy touch and an opportunity.
There was still life in the game then and Bayern were caught with too many men up the pitch. A turnover, with only three players covering deep and Leverkusen’s speed in attack, might have led to an early chance and Alonso’s players finding the momentum they desperately needed.
But Goretzka was immaculate. He cushioned the ball out of the sky, dropping it gently into the path of Kimmich with a single touch, and all the danger vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Another fire put out.
GO DEEPER
Kompany warns Bayern ‘don’t get carried away’ after Leverkusen win
(Top photo: Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
