Xabi Alonso’s men were under no illusions of the task in front of them, with Bayern having already been victorious earlier in the day. Having been beaten on home soil just once since March 2023 they were clear favourites, yet a sluggish start saw them struggle to break down the Gladbach rearguard.
Their first shot on target only arrived in the 25th minute as Alejandro Grimaldo picked out Patrik Schick in the area, but the Czech striker could only head his effort straight at Moritz Nicolas.
Having initially stemmed the tide, the visitors eventually succumbed just beyond the half-hour when Granit Xhaka played a cutting pass through to Florian Wirtz, who beat the last defender before keeping his cool to slot beyond Nicolas and into the bottom-right corner.
Alonso’s side continued to dominate after half-time too, going close 10 minutes after the restart when Grimaldo rifled a shot that was only thwarted by a fantastic save from Nicolas.
Julian Weigl’s handball in the box just beyond the hour presented Die Werkself with the chance to double their advantage.
Wirtz duly took it, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to double his personal tally and surely put the game to bed.
Gerardo Seoane’s men indeed showed little sign of a fightback, and the contest was beyond them when Wirtz turned provider for the hosts’ third.
Finding Schick inside the box, the Leverkusen striker slotted into the corner for his seventh goal in his last four appearances.
Tim Kleindienst struck a consolation for the visitors in stoppage time - the third successive game in which he's struck against Leverkusen - firing in after a pinpoint cross from Luca Netz.
Die Werkself certainly appear back to their best ahead of a tough week that sees them travel to Atlético Madrid and RB Leipzig. Meanwhile, Monchengladbach lost a third successive league match to give up further ground on the top-six and leave them rooted in the bottom half of the table.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)