Head coach Xabi Alonso made two changes to his starting eleven compared with the first friendly of the summer against second division SC Paderborn (1-2): Gustavo Puerta replaced Exequiel Palacios (bench) in central midfield and new signing Victor Boniface started in place of Sardar Azmoun in his debut for Bayer 04. Azmoun suffered a muscle injury in his left calf at the training camp and had to return to Leverkusen early.
The friendly against the Champions League team from La Liga was initiated together with Bayer AG in aid of the Fundación Columbus, which includes the battle against spastic paraplegia 50 (SPG 50). Children from the foundation accompanied the two teams onto the pitch ahead of kick-off and two of them carried out a symbolic kick-off on the pitch. Xabi Alonso took a lot of time out to welcome the children in person.
In front of a crowd of 17,143 in the hometown of the Bayer 04 head coach, Jeremie Frimpong had the ball in the back of the net – but provider Jonas Hofmann was offside in the build-up (2'). At the other end, the captain Lukas Hradecky made his first save on ten minutes to keep out a shot from a tight angle by Real Sociedad striker Umar Sadiq. 15 minutes into the game, Boniface had the ball in the net but the Bayer 04 new signing was offside when Puerta picked him out. The action went from end to end with Mohamed-Ali Cho aiming a shot at the far post for the hosts. However, Hradecky was able to make the save (21').
Alejandro Grimaldo hit a fine free kick from the right on the half-hour mark but the Real Sociedad keeper Alex Remiro was able to keep out the tricky shot. Remiro was on hand again two minutes later to deny a long-range effort from Puerta. The first goal to be allowed came from the opposition: A shot from Mendez from distance found its way into the top corner leaving Hradecky with no chance to make the save (42'). That meant the Werkself went in to half-time with a narrow deficit.
The second half started in heavy rain. Palacios and Jonathan Tah came off the bench to replace Puerta and Odilon Kossounou. The first decent chance of the second half fell to Florian Wirtz with a long-range shot on the hour mark that just missed the target. There was little threat to either goal at this point. Alonso made more changes that included a first team debut for U19 defender Reno Münz. There were no further goals leaving the Werkself with a narrow defeat in this charity match.
The game at Real Sociedad was the first of three friendlies in seven days. The Werkself have an away game on Wednesday at Olympic Marseille, who finished third in Ligue 1 last season. Premier League West Ham United visit Leverkusen on Saturday for the final test before the new campaign. The kick-off against the winners of the UEFA Europa Conference League last season is at 13.30 CEST (tickets available here),with the friendly being the sporting highlight of the Bayer 04 season launch.
Match stats:
Real Sociedad: Remiro (Marrero 46') - Traore (Sola 42'), Zubeldia (Gonzalez 46'), Le Normand (Rico 46'), Aihen (Pacheco 61') - Merino (Turrientes 42'), Zubimendi, Mendez (Marin 61') - Cho (Barrenetxea 61'), Sadiq (Fernandez 46’), Oyarzabal
Bayer 04: Hradecky - Frimpong (Arthur 69’), Kossounou (Tah 46'), Tapsoba (Monamay 69’), Grimaldo (Münz 69’) - Puerta (Palacios 46'), Xhaka (Mbamba 69’, Marsenic 73’) - Hofmann (Fosu-Mensah 78’), Wirtz (Amiri 69’), Adli (Aourir 78’) - Boniface (Hlozek 69’)
Goals: 1-0 Mendez (42’)
Booked: Puerta, Marsenic
Referee: Galech Apezteguia (Spain)
Attendance: 17,143 at the Reale Arena in San Sebastian
With seven points, Mainz 05 are currently joint seventh, level on points with sixth-placed Bayer 04. In today’s head-to-head clash (kick-off: 15:30 CEST), the Werkself must be particularly wary of the clinical Mainz strike duo. For Leverkusen fans who have left it to the last minute, there are still a few tickets available from the matchday ticket office. Those following the Black and Reds from home, on the other hand, have a choice: RTL is broadcasting the match on free-to-air TV, and Werkself Radio is also offering the expert commentary of former Bayer 04 player Falko Götz. Today’s matchday news.
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