Head coach Xabi Alonso made three changes to the team that started Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League. Lukas Hradecky returned in goal for Matej Kovar, while Robert Andrich and Terrier were brought in for Nordi Mukiele and Exequiel Palacios, who were both on the bench. The Werkself looked to control things from the start, but the in-form hosts had the first effort of the game. Arne Maier’s shot from the edge of the box was no issue for Hradecky, though. A first Leverkusen opportunity came not long after and was made to count when Granit Xhaka played in Jeremie Frimpong up the right, whose low cutback was slotted away by Terrier with only 14 minutes played.
A deflected shot from Nathan Tella was just about turned behind by goalkeeper Nediljko Labrovic, but it wouldn’t have counted anyway due to an offside. Similar happened at the other end only seconds later when Keven Schlotterbeck headed a free-kick beyond Hradecky, but the defender was well offside. Augsburg got into the game more, but it was the Werkself who had the next chance on the break through Tella, only for him to not fully connect with his left-footed effort. Wirtz then showed how it’s done, first feigning a shot before firing into the far corner from inside the box to double the lead with his sixth goal of the campaign five minutes before the break.
Augsburg came out on the front, but Bayer 04 were able to pass their way out of any pressure. Wirtz curled an effort towards the far corner, with Labrovic able to claw it away at full stretch. Alonso introduced Patrik Schick for Terrier with 20 minutes to go. Augsburg kept looking at long balls in behind, but Jonathan Tah calmly marshalled the Werkself defence, who had things very much under control. Palacios, Aleix Garcia, Arthur and Jeanuel Belocian came on for the closing minutes, where the only danger was a header from Kristijan Jakic that went wide in added time.
The result means Leverkusen end 2024 having not lost a single Bundesliga game away from home this year – a feat only previously achieved by Bayern in 1986 and 2013. The Werkself’s run now stands at 24 league games without defeat on the road since the loss in Bochum on 27 May 2023. It also cut the gap to Bayern at the top after they lost 2-1 in Mainz at the same time.
The final fixture of 2024 sees Freiburg come to the BayArena next Saturday for the evening kick-off at 6.30pm CET.
Match stats:
Augsburg: Labrovic – Matsima, Gouweleeuw, Schlotterbeck – Wolf, Jakic, Onyeka (Mounie 87'), Maier (Kömür 46'), Giannoulis (Koudossou 59') – Essende (Vargas 76'), Tietz (Claude-Maurice 59')
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie – Frimpong (Arthur 90'+2), Andrich (Garcia 87'), Xhaka, Grimaldo (Belocian 90'+2) – Tella (Palacios 87'), Terrier (Schick 68'), Wirtz
Goals: 0-1 Terrier (14'), 0-2 Wirtz (40')
Referee: Felix Zwayer
Yellow cards: Onyeka, Gouweleeuw, Tietz
Attendance: 29,310 at the WWK Arena
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day four (Wednesday 5 August) is all about training. The day begins with a gruelling open training session – new signing Miguel Gutiérrez also takes part. A second session follows in the afternoon, this time behind closed doors.
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