"The opening stages of the game clearly belonged to Leverkusen, who were committed, played high up the pitch with all the players in the Dortmund half at times, and looked to press," was the assessment in the Rheinische Post. The best chances for the Werkself fell to Nadiem Amiri (5') and Moussa Diaby (16') but the first goal of the game was scored by the visitors from Dortmund. Julian Brandt provided the assist for Karim Adeyemi to give BVB a 1-0 lead (33'). Edmond Tapsoba was unlucky to score an own goal in the second 45 minutes to make it 2-0 (53'). At the other end, Leverkusen were unable to beat the Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel with the result that the Werkself ended the game with no points after a run of five Bundesliga wins.
"We definitely had our chances today but we didn't use space well and we weren’t sharp enough – we just made too many mistakes," said Jonathan Tah after the final whistle. His teammate Robert Andrich agreed: "The crucial factor today was converting chances. The smarter team definitely won today. But we never let our heads drop and always tried to keep on going." Head coach Xabi Alonso also looked forwards at the post-match press conference: "After five wins we had to accept defeat today. Of course, our target remains European qualification but we have to pick up a lot of points for that. Now we are looking forward to Friday where we can expect an intense match in Augsburg."
Seven is the number - That is the number of shots by the Werkself forward Moussa Diaby against Borussia Dortmund. However, the 23-year-old Frenchman was mostly denied by the BVB keeper Gregor Kobel. And the Rheinische Post also saw Diaby as the "stand-out player in the flexible Werkself attack," but the best scorer and provider for Bayer 04 (six goals, three assists) this term was unable to add to his tally on the night.
A look at the stats reveals the number of goals scored was the only one favouring the visitors from Dortmund in the game: The Werkself had 56.7% possession, won more challenges (54.2%) and had a better pass completion rate (86%, BVB: 81.2%). In addition, Moussa Diaby and Co. had three times as many shots on goal as the opposition.
The Leverkusener Anzeiger describes the opening stages as follows: "Bayer 04 could have had the edge in the game that they dreamed of. The fact there were no more chances than the one (Diaby was kept out by the BVB keeper Gregor Kobel on 70 minutes, ed.) was down to the Werkself themselves as they were unable to use the space created after winning possession." The kicker talks about a "setback for Bayer in the battle for Europe," the "most impressive start" by the Werkself went unrewarded on the night.
The Werkself are back in action as soon as Friday night 3 February with an away game at FC Augsburg. The fixture in Bavaria marks the start of Bundesliga matchday 19 and the kick-off is at 20.30 CET.
Bayer 04 are then at home again with the Black and Reds with TSG Hoffenheim the visitors on 11 February at 15.30 CET.
Bundesliga champions Bayer 04 have also dominated the division’s Team of the Season after football fans around the world named Jonathan Tah, Alejandro Grimaldo, Jeremie Frimpong, Granit Xhaka, Florian Wirtz and Victor Boniface in the Bundesliga’s best XI for 2023/24, in cooperation with EA Sports.
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Bayer 04 Women host Bayern Munich at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Saturday (kick-off: 12pm CEST) facing a familiar scenario. The visitors have the chance to be crowned champions in the Google Pixel Bundesliga, just like then they last came to Leverkusen 12 months ago. A goalless draw on that occasion saw Robert de Pauw’s side delay the title celebrations, and they want to do the same again with three games to go.
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Only a few hours after the Werkself’s 2-0 win away at Roma in the UEFA Europa League semi-final first leg, attentions turned to the next game as Bayer 04 visit Eintracht Frankfurt for Bundesliga Matchday 32 on Sunday (kick-off: 5.30pm CEST). Speaking at his press conference in Rome shortly before returning to Leverkusen on Friday morning, head coach Xabi Alonso talked about the strengths of six-placed Frankfurt and how the team will handle his touchline suspension.
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Robert Andrich’s brilliant goal in Rome came with the same right foot that he broke exactly a year ago in the same stadium. It was also only the second time Bayer 04 had won an away game in Italy, after victory at Udinese in the UEFA Cup in November 1999. Lots of subplots and a mature performance means hope of reaching the final in Dublin is high. We round up events in the Eternal City in our Werkself review.
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