Head coach Xabi Alonso made six changes to the XI that took on Arsenal on Wednesday. Lukas Hradecky took over from Matej Kovar between the sticks. In addition, Alejandro Grimaldo, Arthur, Robert Andrich, Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface started on Saturday.
The Werkself got off to a controlled start and were solid at the back while relying on many passes in their build-up play as usual. Nabil Fekir missed the first chance for the away side (12’) before Florian Wirtz’ low effort went just wide after a failed clearance (18’). Piero Hincapie let fly following fine interplay down the left, but Betis keeper Rui Silva saved his effort. The Werkself slowly but surely asserted their authority, Sevilla’s Marc Bartra beating Boniface to a Wirtz cross (34’). Hofmann missed a chance before half-time and the sides turned round with the game still goalless.
The Andalusians were dominant after the restart, Aitor Ruibal inviting sub Juanmi to score the opener (52’). Xabi Alonso made four changes now, Martin Terrier, Jeremie Frimpong, Aleix Garcia and Jeanuël Belocian coming on for Hofmann, Arthur, Hincapie and Grimaldo. The Black and Reds went looking for an equaliser and found the net, only for Wirtz’ goal to be chalked off for offside (67’). Three minutes later Boniface’s sumptuous sideways scissor-kick went just wide (70’).
Patrik Schick, Amine Adli and Odilon Kossounou came on now, and Alonso’s changes paid off when Betis keeper parried a Schick header, with Belocian on hand to mop up and score his maiden goal for Bayer 04 (78’). Schick had just found the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside again. The Werkself pressed for a winner, but another goal refused to come and the last pre-season friendly ended in a stalemate.
The Werkself contest their first competitive fixture of the new season at the BayArena on Saturday 17 August (kick-off: 20:30 CEST), when German champions and DFB Cup winners Bayer 04 face off with Bundesliga runners-up VfB Stuttgart.
Match stats
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Tapsoba, Tah (Kossounou 74’), Hincapie (Garcia 60’) – Arthur (Frimpong 60’), Andrich, Xhaka, Grimaldo (Belocian 60’) – Hofmann (Terrier 60’), Wirtz (Adli 74’) – Boniface (Schick 74’)
Real Betis:Silva – Sabaly (Bellerin 61’), Bartra (Cardoso 61’), Llorente, Parraud – Roca (Diao 61’), Carvalho (Altimira 82’) – Fornals, Fekir (Losada 82’), Avila (Juanmi 46’) – Ruibal (Rodriguez 61’)
Goals: 0-1 Juanmi (52’), 1-1 Belocian (78’)
Yellow cards: Llorente, Carvalho
Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Niederkassel)
Attendance: 28,395 at the BayArena
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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