Gerardo Seoane included several international players in his starting line-up: Captain Lukas Hradecky returned between the sticks, Patrik Schick was up front from the start. The duo missed the first pre-season friendly against third division MSV Duisburg (6:1) as did Moussa Diaby and Sardar Azmoun. Summer signing Adam Hlozek made his debut for the Black and Reds in the second half.
Ahead of the game, referee Stefan Eder received an official farewell. The 33-year-old match official was a referee in the Austrian Bundesliga and he now ends his career with the match at the Alois Latini Stadium.
Both teams defied the blazing Austrian sun and temperatures of 30 degrees from the start. It quickly developed into an intense encounter albeit with few goalscoring opportunities for either side in the first half.
The Werkself mainly progressed down the right with the pace of Jeremie Frimpong and Diaby with PAOK attacks mostly stemming from left-back Christian Ganea. The two sides went into half-time with the score at 0-0 as the final ball failed to find the target.
Seoane made changes at half-time bringing on ten new players including Ayman Azhil and Joel Pohjanpalo, who have returned from loan. Only Exequiel Palacios remained on the pitch from the starting eleven.
The first good chance for Bayer 04 came just two minutes after the restart when Piero Hincapie put a cross from the left onto the head of Pohjanpalo with the centre-forward heading just wide of the target. The Finland international was also involved in the second big chance for Leverkusen on 75 minutes: A shot from youngster Iker Bravo was parried by the Panathinaikos keeper Yuri Lodygin and Pohjanpalo followed up but the keeper was again able to make the save.
Neither side was able to affect the scoreline with the second friendly for Bayer 04 in the current pre-season ending in a goalless draw. The Werkself are back in action on Thursday 21 July. Serie A club Udinese are the next visitors to Zell am See. The kick-off at the Alois Latini Stadium is at 18.00 CEST.
Match stats:
Bayer 04 starting line-up: Hradecky – Frimpong, Kossounou, Tapsoba, Bakker – Palacios, Demirbay – Diaby, Azmoun, Aourir – Schick
Panathinaikos starting line-up: Brignoli – Vagiannidis, Schenkeveld, Poungouras, Ganea – Alexandropoulos, Perez – Palacios, Cerin, Cantalapiedra – Ioannidis
Booked: Sarlija, Alexandropoulos
Referee: Stefan Eder
Attendance: 400 at the Alois Latini Stadium (Zell am See)
A first win in the preseason: In the last friendly before the start of a two-week break in training, the Bayer 04 Women beat top-flight Dutch side Ajax 1-0. In the match played over three 30-minute thirds Vanessa Fudalla scored the goal for the Werkself. In the previous two friendlies this summer, the team led by head coach Roberto Pätzold lost 2-0 two Bundesliga rivals TSG Hoffenheim and drew 1-1 with the Dutch team PEC Zwolle.
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Show moreDay three of the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour. Today, Thursday 17 July, sees the two new signings Jarell Quansah and Christian Kofane join the squad in training. Plus the former Werkself players Paulo Sergio and Rodrigo Chagas visit the Bayer AG Football School. In the afternoon there is a big media event ahead of the friendly against the Flamengo U20s. As usual, Bayer04.de keeps you up-to-date with on-the-spot reports. The blog for day three of the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour (timings given in local time).
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