German Champions Leverkusen Secure Last-Minute Victory

Granit Xhaka praised Bayer Leverkusen's "pure mentality" after Florian Wirtz's goal in the 11th minute of stoppage time clinched a 3-2 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga opener on Friday.

Leverkusen led 2-0 at halftime, thanks to a stunning goal from Xhaka and another from Wirtz. In the second half, Nico Elvedi reduced the deficit for Gladbach with a 59th-minute goal, and Tim Kleindienst equalized with five minutes remaining.

A delay due to flares in the stands extended the stoppage time, during which Ko Itakura fouled Amine Adli in the penalty area. Wirtz's initial penalty was saved, but he scored on the rebound, marking the latest goal in Bundesliga history.

Leverkusen had a strong first half but faced a comeback from Gladbach. Xhaka stated, "We started well in the first half and were dominant. We said at half-time we don't want to let them back into it. They came back but again we showed our pure mentality and we can take the three points back to Leverkusen from a difficult away match."

Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso expressed surprise at the late victory, saying, "I have no explanation for that. It's football. It's happened for us a lot."

Wirtz, 21, expressed his satisfaction with the penalty responsibility, saying, "I know that at the end it was a bit lucky, but I don't want to complain. We're happy that we won at the end. We made it a bit hard for ourselves. There's plenty of things we need to keep working on but we can be happy we got the three points today."

Leverkusen, fresh off an unbeaten league and cup double last season, added another trophy to their collection by winning the German Supercup against Stuttgart on penalties the previous Saturday. Gladbach, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, were missing star midfielder Manu Kone, who was left out of the squad due to an impending move.

Xhaka opened the scoring for Leverkusen with a long-range shot after 13 minutes, echoing his goal in the German Cup final against Kaiserslautern in May. Wirtz added to the lead with a goal in the 38th minute. Although Gladbach's Kleindienst had a goal ruled out by VAR just before halftime, he later scored to level the match. In stoppage time, Adli's fall in the box led to a VAR review and Wirtz's penalty, which he converted on the rebound to ensure Leverkusen's win.

Friday's match, featuring the defending champions, was the first Bundesliga opener without Bayern Munich since 2013.