Head coach Xabi Alonso rotated again for the meeting with the Wolves and made six changes from the 2-2 draw at Qarabag in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg. Lukas Hradecky returned between the posts, while Josip Stanisic and Piero Hincapie started in front of him in the defence. Granit Xhaka was recalled in midfield, along with Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick in attack.
The Werkself took control from kick-off against VfL and dominated with possession and several moves, albeit without threatening in the opening minutes. That didn't come until the 22nd minute, when Xhaka fed the overlapping Wirtz on the left, but the Werkself's number 10 could only strike the post with his first-time finish. The visitors largely banked on counter opportunities and Leverkusen mistakes, and that's how their best chance came about when Edmond Tapsoba's attempted clearance wasn't accurate enough - Cedric Zesiger tested Hradecky with a first-time shot, the Finn tipping the ball over the bar on 26 minutes.
Three minutes later, Moritz Jenz fouled Schick on the edge of the box and the Wolfsburg defender was shown his second yellow card. The hosts promptly took advantage of their numerical advantage in the 37th minute: Alejandro Grimaldo got close to the left byline before crossing into the middle where Nathan Tella headed home to give Alonso's men a deserved half-time lead.
It was a similar story after the restart: Leverkusen continued to make the running going forward and had everything under control defensively, although clear chances were again in short supply - which was also down to opponents who were now defending very deeply. The best opportunities fell to substitute Amine Adli with a header and Xhaka from distance. The Werkself continued to move the ball around in front of the opposition penalty area but struggled to break through the passive Wolfsburg rearguard. Four minutes from time, the visitors' resistance was finally broken: with a perfect pass behind the Wolves' defensive line, Palacios set up Wirtz, who converted first-time to wrap up a 2-0 win.
It's another busy week for the Werkself ahead of the international break. They host Qarabag for the return leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie this Thursday, 14 March (kick-off 21:00 CET). Three days later, Bayer 04 are back in Bundesliga action as they visit SC Freiburg on Sunday 17 March (kick-off 15:30 CET).
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Stanisic, Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie (Adli 59') – Xhaka, Palacios (Andrich 90') – Tella (Hofmann 76'), Wirtz (Hlozek 90'), Grimaldo – Schick (Iglesias 76')
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Lacroix, Jenz, Zesiger (Wimmer 87') – Baku, Gerhardt (Behrens 87'), Arnold, Paredes – Majer (Vranckx 62'), Tomás (Sarr 62') – Wind (Bornauw 32')
Goals: 1-0 Tella (37'), 2-0 Wirtz (86')
Yellow cards: Adli / Gerhardt
Red cards: Jenz
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Berlin)
Attendance: 29,314 (home section sold out) 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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