“Bailey leads Bayer to victory,” is the headline in the Kölnische Rundschau and the newspaper goes on to describe the Jamaican’s opening goal as follows: “After just five minutes, Bailey scored the opener after a great pass from U21 international Wirtz – all appeared to be going to plan for the favourites. But then the hosts hit back through Acolatse.”
The Werkself did hit back after the brace scored by the Dutchman. The Rheinische Post presents the second Leverkusen goal as follows: “From a corner, Jedvaj powered a header in direction of Levita who did parry the ball but then had to watch as it bounced back off the head of Or Dadia into the net (39’).”
The BILD explicitly mentions the change made by Peter Bosz at half-time that led him to move Leon Bailey into the centre of the attack – and reports: “Then Bailey did a brilliant job with his head when he bravely threw himself towards a cross from Kerem Demirbay, keeper Levita rushed out and caught Bailey on the back of the neck. The double goalscorer could take it – 3-2 (75’).”
Bailey earned even more praise from the Ruhr Nachrichten. “The Jamaican was the outstanding player, scored the opening goal and the crucial third with his head playing as the central striker in spite of only being 1.78 metres tall,” reports the journal.
The scorer of the goal to make it 4-2 is also mentioned positively in many reports. Florian Wirtz “is continuing to work on breaking records,” writes the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. “Set up the first goal and made it 4-2 with an excellent shot. At the age of 17 years and 6 months, the youngest German goalscorer and provider in the Europa League,” says the newspaper about the Werkself youngster who also scored on the first matchday in the 6-2 win against Nice.
Looking at the positions in the group, the EXPRESS reports: “The Werkself took a big step in the direction of the knockout rounds and are on course to be in Europe in the New Year with six points with two games at home in the remaining three matchdays.”
Bayer 04 welcomed 14 media representatives from Africa on Friday, 1 December. The trip for journalists from the likes of Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mozambique, Togo, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Togo was organised by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) with the goal of establishing and promoting Africa as a new target market for the Bundesliga.
Show moreBayer 04 has modernised its media working area in the stands at the BayArena and equipped it with new, multifunctional monitors. The 50 screens will be used for the first time for the fixture against Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 13 in the Bundesliga next Sunday, 3 December (kick-off: 17:30 CET) and offer the media representatives working at the BayArena on matchday numerous possibilities.
Show moreBayer 04 have little time to recover from their 2-0 win away at Häcken in the UEFA Europe League, ensuring progress to the round of 16, before their next challenge up against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Sunday (17:30 CET). At his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, head coach Xabi Alonso spoke about BVB and gave a warning about not losing focus.
Show moreSpirits are high at Borussia Dortmund following their impressive display and result away at AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. On Sunday (17:30 CET), they want to keep an impressive week going with another scalp in Leverkusen. Here’s the lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more