Roger Schmidt was able to pick from a large number of established players and gave most of them at least 45 minutes in the new red away kit. The Werkself had to recover from going behind early on in the game. Porto’s striker André Silva exploited a mistake in the Leverkusen defence on eight minutes to give the Portuguese the lead.
Roger Schmidt’s team, having trained at the BayArena in the morning and with Lars Bender sidelined, took a while to recover from the setback. Kyriakos Papadopoulos rose to meet a corner from the lively Hakan Calhanoglu and directed a header goalward but the Spanish European Championship and World Cup winner Iker Casillas was able to make the save on 24 minutes. The game developed into an open encounter with the Werkself pressing for an equaliser. However, Chicharito, Kevin Volland and Co. were unable to find the back of net straight away.
Impressive equaliser
That all changed after the restart. Schmidt brought on André Ramalho and Admir Mehmedi and Calhanoglu went just wide with a long-range effort on 48 minutes. Leverkusen were rewarded for all their efforts ten minutes later: Volland picked out his strike partner Chicharito with a breathtaking disguised pass in the penalty area and the Mexican was hand to curl the ball over the keeper to level the scores at 1-1. An impressive combination of the two strikers to whet the appetite for more.
Chicharito went off shortly after that to be replaced by Joel Pohjanpalo making his first appearance after his loan period at Fortuna Düsseldorf. And the agile Finn fitted in at once. He looked to get on the end of a cross from another substitute Levin Öztunali but the ball went just wide of the target. Shortly after that, Öztunali almost netted a winner but his header from a Mehmedi cross also failed to find the target. The game ended 1-1.
Off to Austria on Thursday
While FC Porto have almost completed an eleven-day training camp in Kamen-Kaiserau the Werkself are about to start the busy phase of the pre-season. The Bayer 04 squad, management and support staff head for Zell am See in Kaprun, Austria on Thursday for a training camp designed to lay the foundations for the coming campaign.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Özcan – Hilbert (Akkaynak 74’), Papadopoulos (Ramalho 46’), Toprak (Cacutalua 82’), Henrichs – Kampl, Calhanoglu (Yurchenko 62’, Havertz 76’) – Bellarabi (Öztunali 62’), Brandt (Mehmedi 46’) – Volland (Schreck 75’), Chicharito (Pohjanpalo 62’).
Goals: 0-1 André Silva (8’), 1-1 Chicharito (58’)
The Colombian midfielder Gustavo Puerta is set to join Hull City on permanent terms from 1 July. Bayer 04 Leverkusen and the Championship club originally agreed a season-long loan in the summer with an option to buy included in the contract. A permanent move to Hull City has been triggered by the number of league appearances Puerta has made this term.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to FC St. Pauli on Bundesliga Matchday 30. The game is on Sunday, 20 April (kick-off: 19:30 CEST). The Bayer 04 Fan Liaison team brings you the latest information on the fixture at the Millerntor Stadium…
Show moreThe Easter holidays enticed a large number of Bayer 04 fans to come to the training ground at the BayArena, today Wednesday 16 April, to watch the Werkself at an open training session in the afternoon. Afterwards, the players and head coach Xabi Alonso took time out to sign autographs and pose for photographs. And there was a lot going on besides: While midfield maestro Granit Xhaka fielded questions at an entertaining children's press conference, including the story behind his squad number 34, Nathan Tella faced the media.
Show moreAway fans take note: Tickets for the forthcoming away game for the Werkself against FC St Pauli at the Millerntor Stadium on Sunday, 20 April (kick-off: 19:30 CEST) are exclusively available on the Bayer 04 app. The tickets are available at once and as usual under the 'Profil' tab by clicking on the 'Meine Tickets' button.
Show moreFlap up, screen on: With the help of the new Bayer 04 tactics truck, training content and match action for the Werkself as well as tactical graphics can now be shown and discussed on the training ground.
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