Head coach Xabi Alonso, who ended speculation about his future at the club on Good Friday with the with the confirmation he will be the Werkself head coach next season, made three changes to his starting XI from the last Bundesliga match away to SC Freiburg: Edmond Tapsoba, Robert Andrich and Jonas Hofmann came into the side for Josip Stanisic, Exequiel Palacios and Adam Hlozek. From the start, Hoffenheim dropped back into their own half when Leverkusen were in possession as they tried to close down space. Bayer 04 were calm but persistent in their build-up play with Florian Wirtz setting up Granit Xhaka but the shot from the Switzerland player with the record number of caps was easily saved by the TSG keeper Oliver Baumann (11'). A curler from Wirtz from 18 metres out flew just past the top corner of the net (18').
The Werkself were often quick to regain possession and were clearly dominating the game even though there was a lack of decisive moves and clear goalscoring opportunities. The Black and Reds had to be patient against a tightly packed TSG defence. Hoffenheim then took the lead out of the blue with their first attack: Beier put the ball in the back of the Bayer 04 net after a one-two with Wout Weghorst. Lukas Hradecky got to the shot was unable to keep it out (33'). Bayer 04 lacked pace in moving the ball to create problems for the opposition defence. A crafty chip from Xhaka was saved under the bar by Baumann (42'), a shot from Hofmann from a promising position was too weak to beat the Hoffenheim keeper (44'). Shortly after that, another effort from Hofmann was blocked by Ozan Kabak and an Andrich header went just wide (45+2').
The Werkself put their foot on the gas after the break. Baumann held onto a Hincapie header from a Grimaldo free kick (52') and he also denied Wirtz after a fine solo run (54'). Amine Adli replaced Hofmann (58’). A deflected shot from Frimpong landed on top of the net (63'), and an Adli cross into the area was not hit well by Grimaldo (68’). Baumann saved a long-range effort from Grimaldo (70'). A handball by Kabak was checked by referee Aytekin but not punished (71'). Borja Iglesias replaced Hincapie on 72 minutes.
Baumann then pulled off brilliant saves to first keep out Schick and then Adli (76'). The BayArena crowd were on their feet giving the home team vocal support. The Werkself fought like demons in the closing stages of the game – and were incredibly unlucky when Iglesias hit the bar (86’). The leveller then came with Wirtz, who put in an incredible shift, crossing for Jonathan Tah to head the ball back for Robert Andrich to fire a volley into the net – 1-1 (88'). And Bayer 04 were not finished: Patrik Schick, a specialist in late goals, put the ball in the back of the net from a Tella cross with Leverkusen's 33rd shot on goal (90+1,). The final whistle came five minutes later with the BayArena going crazy as they celebrated the next step forward for the league leaders.
The Werkself now go into the first of three successive packed weeks. Bayer 04 return to the BayArena on Wednesday 3 April for the DFB Pokal semi-final against Fortuna Düsseldorf (20.45 CEST). That is followed by Bundesliga matchday 28 on Saturday 6 April with an away game at Union Berlin kicking off at 15.30 CEST.
Match stats
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Tapsoba (Stanisic 86’), Tah, Hincapie (Iglesias 72’) – Frimpong (Tella 86’), Andrich, Xhaka, Grimaldo – Hofmann (Adli 58’), Wirtz – Schick
TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann – Kabak, Grillitsch, Drexler – Kaderabek, Stach, Tohumcu (Geiger 73’), Jurasek – Kramaric (Prömel 58’) – Weghorst (Bülter 78’), Beier (Bebou 73’)
Goals: 0-1 Beier (33’), 1-1 Andrich (88’), 2-1 Schick (90+1’)
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Oberasbach)
Booked: Drexler
Attendance: 30,047 at the BayArena (home sections sold out)
Exciting experiences and exclusive insights into the Werkself and the BayArena awaited the young footballers from the BA04 Football Academy Guangzhou in China during their visit to the Rhineland this week. As well as taking part in a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy, the youngsters marvelled at the Bundesliga club’s stadium during a guided tour. The highlight of the visit was a private press conference with former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling, during which he shared tips from his own career with the young players. On Saturday afternoon, 10 October, the group will round off their visit by supporting the Werkself in the away match in Mainz.
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In issue #56 of Werkself Magazine, Afonso Moreira offers some interesting insights into his home country, Portugal, as part of the ‘Sag mal’ (Tell me) feature. Among other things, the 21-year-old talks about his favourite places in the country on the Iberian Peninsula, the local cuisine and music, as well as heroes and historical figures beyond the world of football. ‘Sag mal’ with Afonso Moreira!
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