Head coach Xabi Alonso made five changes from the line-up in the Europa League quarter-final first leg against Union Saint-Gilloise (1-1): Odilon Kossounou started in defence in place of Jonathan Tah with Kerem Demirbay and Nadiem Amiri in midfield. Exequiel Palacios missed out due to a muscular problem. Piero Hincapie moved out of the back three onto the left wing, Mitchel Bakker dropped down to the subs bench. In addition, Alonso opted to play Sardar Azmoun and Adam Hlozek up front in place of Florian Wirtz and Amine Adli. Robert Andrich again played in central defence.
Both teams initially made a quiet start. The Werkself mainly tried to find Moussa Diaby with long balls from midfield but the VfL defence had little problem in averting any danger. On 26 minutes, another ball hit deep into the opposition half found Azmoun who picked out teammate Diaby on the edge of the box. But his shot was blocked by the Wolfsburg defence. Two minutes later saw the first shot on Koen Casteels' goal – and that did pose a threat: A cross from Jeremie Frimpong from the right was met by Azmoun in the centre and he tried to volley but the Wolves defender Josuha Guilavogui was able to turn the ball against the bar.
Wolfsburg had their first scoring opportunity on 33 minutes: Paulo Otavio gained possession after Frimpong lost the ball and he was able to pick out Yannick Gerhardt but his header went over the bar. As the game went on, chances increased for the visitors with Hlozek shooting into the side netting (35’) and that was followed a minute later by a long-range effort from Amiri. However the Leverkusen players were unable to penetrate the opposition defence. The two sides went into half-time with the score at 0-0.
The hosts had their first big chance two minutes after the restart: Felix Nmecha shot but his effort went over the bar. At the other end, Diaby tried to shoot from a tight angle but the Wolfsburg keeper Casteels was able to make the save (54'). In a physical encounter, both sides then had more goalscoring opportunities: Demirbay hit a firm shot from 20 yards out (69') and then the Wolfsburg substitute Patrick Wimmer hit a shot towards the bottom corner in the penalty area but Hradecky was able to make the save (72').
The Werkself pressed for the winner in the closing minutes but were unable to find a way through the opposition defence. There were no goals and the match ended all square at 0-0. The Werkself remain unbeaten for the eleventh game in succession across competitions.
More double fixture weeks: The Werkself travel back to Leverkusen on Sunday night with the day off on Monday. That is followed by two closed training sessions before setting off for Brussels on Wednesday afternoon. Leverkusen are away to Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday 20 April in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals. The kick-off at the Lotto Park is at 21.00 CEST. Bundesliga action returns then three days later: the Black and Reds entertain the current holders of the DFB Cup RB Leipzig. The kick-off at the BayArena is at 17.30 CEST.
Match stats:
Wolfsburg: Casteels – Bornauw, Guilavogui, van de Ven – Kaminski, Svanberg, Nmecha, Gerhardt (Baku 80’), Otávio (Paredes 54’, Lacroix 80’) – Marmoush (Wimmer 70’), Wind
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Kossounou, Andrich, Tapsoba - Frimpong, Amiri (Tah 78’), Demirbay, Hincapie - Diaby, Hlozek (Adli 78’) - Azmoun (Wirtz 62’)
Booked: Amiri, Hincapie, Kossounou, Diaby, Wirtz
Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Niederkassel)
Attendance: 20,137 at the Volkswagen Arena
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