Schreck debut for the pros, Özcan in the Europa League

The blonde forward was up and down the wings for 73 minutes before making way for Kai Havertz. On 48 minutes,  the Pinneberg-born player, signed from the FC St Pauli youth team in 2016 (50 U19 appearances, 14 goals) plus two recent  U 20 international caps for Germany (one goal), had the first chance in the second half  but his  shot from a tight angle landed just the wrong side of the post. "Sam had a very decent performance," praised Heiko Herrlich after the youngster's first appearance.

50 European games for Lars Bender

And the meeting with Ludogorets was also special for two other players: Ramazan 'Rambo' Özcan was in goal in a Europa League match for the first time. For that reason, the 34-year-old Austrian secured the match ball after the final whistle. Lars Bender (introduced on 63 minutes) made his 50th appearance on the European stage last night –  28 games in the Champions League and 22 in the Europa League. The Werkself skipper has worn the Bayer 04 shirt in all his European matches.

There was a tragic conclusion to the first game of the season for Panagiotis Retsos. The 20-year-old, who suffered a broken hand and a torn right thigh ligament in the pre-season, made his comeback against Ludogorets. Unfortunately, the central defender suffered an injury in a challenge on the half-hour mark and he had to go off with a suspected muscle injury – the exact extent of the injury will be revealed with an MRI scan today.