#BVBB04 review: Black and Red statement of intent

Summary: Unlucky, acrobatic, unmissable

The 10,000 spectators at the Signal Iduna Park witnessed a true spectacle from the kick-off. There was end-to-end action, the challenges were intense, the tempo high. But the first goal of the afternoon fell under the category of fortuitous: The ball landed at the feet of Patrik Schick from a misplaced pass by Dan-Axel Zagadou. The BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was able to parry the shot from the Czech Republic international but the ball bounced off Akanji's knee into the back of the net (10’). An own goal by Jeremie Frimpong levelled the scores five minutes later but thanks to a double whammy from Florian Wirtz (20’), rounding off a brilliant counter-attack, and Robert Andrich , direct from a free kick (28'), Leverkusen went into half-time with a 3-1 lead. A few minutes after the restart, Jonathan Tah made it 4-1 (53') with an acrobatic effort, and Moussa Diaby scored to put the Werkself 5-1 up (87'). Borussia Dortmund's Tigges netted a consolation with almost the last kick of the game for the final score of 5-2 (89'). HERE is the match report.

Reaction: "Most brilliant breakaway goal"

"Everything went right today," said Lennart Grill in summing up the 90 minutes. The keeper was also full of praise for the players in front of him who were involved in the goal to make it 2-1. Grill continued: "I think it was the most brilliant breakaway goal I've ever seen!" Head coach Gerardo Seoane added at the post-match press conference: "Hats off to the whole team for the performance. We got off to a very good start, the first half was very good – on and off the ball. We won lots of challenges and were solid at the back."

Personnel: Grill's impressive first outing in front of fans

The absence through injury of Andrey Lunev for the big match against BVB was certain for several days, Lukas Hradecky’s absence due to a Covid-19 infection was confirmed on Sunday morning. So Gerardo Seoane's choice for the position between the posts was Lennart Grill. The 23-year-old was on loan to the Norwegian club SK Brann Bergen for the first half of the season and he made his first appearance of the current campaign in Dortmund. “He played like a real number one, a really impressive performance," was the assessment in the BILD Zeitung. It was also the first Bundesliga appearance for Grill in front of a crowd – his four top-flight matches last season were played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Sardar Azmoun proved to be a real lucky charm. The new signing took his seat in the North Stand and – like Germany coach Hansi Flick – watched the 5-2 thriller live. The centre forward was signed from the champions of Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg last week.

Stats: Finally another win at Dortmund

It was a long, long time ago: The last win for the Black and Reds away to the Black and Yellows was on 23 August 2014. Back then there was a 2-0 victory with goals from Karim Bellarabi and Stefan Kießling. If you look at the away form table this season then yesterday's three points in Dortmund were not that improbable: The Seoane team have collected the second highest number of points on the road (21 from 11 games) after league leaders Bayern Munich. Moreover, the Werkself now have a better goal difference than BVB in second place but they do have a five-point lead over Bayer 04.

What the papers say: Tah as Man of the Match

As already mentioned, there was plenty of praise after the game for the Leverkusen performance. The headline in the Rheinische Post reads: "Leverkusen overwhelm Dortmund." The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung opts for the words "Bayer overrun BVB," the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger declares "Werkself outstanding in Dortmund." The Kicker names Jonathan Tah, key defender and goalscorer, as the Man of the Match and the Kölnische Rundschau includes 04 Leverkusen players in their Team of the Matchday (Tah, Wirtz, Andrich, Diaby).

Outlook: At home in front of fans

The haul in 2022 to date is impressive: The Werkself have picked up 10 out of a possible 12 points since the start of the year. And hopefully there will be another three points next weekend. When VfB Stuttgart visit the BayArena on Saturday 12 February (kick-off: 18.30 CET) – there will be 10,000 fans at the stadium. Jonathan Tah emphasised in regard to the game against the side next-to-last in the Bundesliga: "There are as many points to gain against Stuttgart as there were at Dortmund. If we are again as focused then we will have a good game."