Werkself review #VfBB04: Two milestones and one point

SUMMARY: PALACIOS CLINICAL AGAIN

Head coach Xabi Alonso made four changes to his starting line-up three days after the semi-final first leg in the Europa League away to AS Roma (0-1). The Werkself appeared to be on top in the opening 15 minutes without creating any clear-cut chances – also because VfB sat back in their own half and thereby restricted space for Moussa Diaby and Co. Mitchel Bakker (6’) and Sardar Azmoun (8’) did make attempts on goal but had as little success as Edmond Tapsoba on 25 minutes. The two sides went in at half-time with the score at 0-0.

VfB Stuttgart took the lead out of the blue in the second half in front of 46,300 spectators including 2,000 fans from Leverkusen: Following a foul on Wataru Endo by Exequiel Palacios, Serhou Guirassy opened the scoring for Stuttgart from the penalty spot (57’). The introduction of Florian Wirtz in place of Bakker then brought about a change of formation – that paid off ten minutes later with a deserved equaliser. The VfB keeper Fabian Bredlow brought down Tapsoba in an aerial duel and referee Frank Willenborg pointed to the penalty spot after reviewing the incident following the intervention of the VAR. As in the 2-1 win against Bayern Munich, when Palacios converted two penalties, the Argentinian World Cup winner also clinically sank this penalty into the bottom left corner of the VfB net for the final score of 1-1 (70’). HERE is the match report.

REACTION: "INTENSE GAME FOE EVERYONE"

After the game, Alonso talked about and “intense game for everyone. For the players and for the coaches. Playing every three days is a challenge. But I’m happy with the commitment and willingness of the team to fight to the end.” The Werkself have today (Monday) free, “to be able to recover physically and mentally.” From Tuesday the focus will be on the semi-final second leg against AS Roma on Thursday 18 May (kick-off: 21.00 CEST) at the BayArena.

The boss in defence Jonathan Tah added in reference to the game in Stuttgart: “I don’t know whether it was a good game to watch. It was difficult for us to find space. Doing that better is something we can take with us for the game against Roma on Thursday.”

PERSONNEL: TWO MILESTONES

A more than impressive number: Goalkeeping coach David Thiel clocked up his 500^th game for Bayer 04 in Stuttgart on Sunday. The 38-year-old has been with the Werkself since 1996. At the age of ten, the Leverkusen-born lad became a member and progressed through all the youth teams and finally ended up between the sticks for the second team. At the same time, Thiel coached the youth keepers at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre where he was supported by the Bayer 04 legend Rüdiger Vollborn. He took up the position as first-team goalkeeping coach in 2012 – and is still doing that today. Congratulations and here’s to many more games.

And Florian Wirtz, who replaced Mitchel Bakker on the hour mark, also achieved a notable milestone in Stuttgart: Having celebrated his 20^th birthday at the start of May, the playmaker made his 100^th appearance for Bayer 04. Wirtz has been involved in 36 goals in 75 Bundesliga matches, played four DFB Cup ties (one goal) plus 21 Europa League games with 16 goal involvements. Impressive numbers!

STATS: BALANCED NUMBERS ALL ROUND

Not only were the number of goals equal, the other stats only showed a slight advantage for VfB with possession at 51%, 51% of duels won plus a slightly better pass completion rate (87% to 85%). The Werkself had their noses in front with the number of shots on goal (12 to 9). Bayer 04 are now unbeaten in eleven games at Stuttgart (7 wins, 4 draws). 

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY: "A FAIR DRAW"

“Two penalties reinvigorated an encounter lacking excitement,” was the assessment of the game in the Rheinische Post. Referring to the equaliser from Exequiel Palacios, the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reports: “In spite of massive efforts to disrupt by Stuttgart players, Palacios slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to make it 1-1.” The midfielder received a high mark of two from the KStA with the explanation: “Had an impressive game until he gave away the penalty. Made amends with extreme calm as he converted his own penalty.” The kicker drew the following conclusion: “A fair draw between two less than inspiring teams who were mostly active in midfield.”

OUTLOOK: SEMI-FINAL SECOND LEG IN LEVERKUSEN

The Werkself now have another double-fixture week with two home games at the BayArena: AS Roma come to Leverkusen for the Europa League semi-final second leg on Thursday 18 May (kick-off: 21.00 CEST). That is followed three days later by the last Bundesliga home game of the 2022/23 season against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The match on Sunday 21 May kicks off at 19.30 CEST.