Xabi Alonso made two changes to his starting eleven for the final game of the season. Sardar Azmoun started up front coming in for the suspended defender Piero Hincapie with Nadiem Amiri replacing teammate Kerem Demirbay in midfield.
The Werkself started well in front of a vocal crowd. The first efforts on goal came from Azmoun in the penalty area on three minutes with a follow-up from Exequiel Palacios. Just five minutes later came the following event: While the Leverkusen defence were involved in a build-up, Amine Adli kicked out at the Bochum defender Dominique Heintz and was initially shown a yellow card. After consulting VAR, referee Tobias Welz showed the Frenchman the red card (8').
The next chance fell to the visitors who were unmoved by the incident: An impressive move saw Palacios and Azmoun move the ball forwards. The Iran international put Jeremie Frimpong through down the right with a long ball. The latter slotted the ball past the VfL keeper Manuel Riemann but Ivan Ordets was able to prevent Bayer 04 taking the lead with a clearance off the line (11').
Leverkusen and again and again penetrated the porous Bochum defence – but the first goal came at the other end: A long ball to the right found Takuma Asano and he crossed from the corner flag into the penalty area where Philipp Förster was able to volley home at the far post to make it 1-0 to VfL (19). The hosts doubled their lead on 34 minutes with a corner from Kevin Stöger that was converted by Asano: The Bochum player made it 2-0 with a volley in the penalty area (34’). That was the scoreline at half-time.
After the restart, the Werkself were mainly camped in the opposition half against a Bochum side sitting back. Florian Wirtz managed to beat a number of opponents but the keeper Riemann was able to prevent him scoring. And the follow-up effort from Moussa Diaby was also frustrated by the Bochum defence (50'). Good chances for the visitors increased: A one-two with Wirtz on the right saw Frimpong hit a shot to the near post (62'). Play was then disrupted by interruptions and fouls. After Bochum made few efforts to attack, there was danger again on 86 minutes: Stöger lobbed the ball over Lukas Hradecky to make it 3-0 for VfL Bochum.
The result ensured VfL Bochum stay up. And the Werkself had something to celebrate a few minutes after the final whistle: As relegated Hertha Berlin beat VfL Wolfsburg 2-1, Bayer 04 end the 2022/23 Bundesliga in sixth place and thereby secure qualification for Europe next term. If RB Leipzig beat Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB Cup final next week then Bayer 04 would qualify for the Europa League. If not, the Werkself would be in the play-offs for the UEFA Conference League.
Match stats:
VfL Bochum: Riemann – Janko, Ordets, Masovic, Heintz (56. Schlotterbeck) – Losilla, Förster (56. Osterhage), Stöger (89. Lampropoulos), Asano (80. Zoller), Antwi-Adjei – Hofmann (80. Broschinski)
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Frimpong, Tapsoba, Tah, Bakker – Amiri (78. Hlozek), Palacios – Diaby, Wirtz, Adli – Azmoun
Booked: Stöger, Förster, Hofmann, Osterhage – Tapsoba, Wirtz, Bakker, Diaby, Alonso (Trainer)
Sent off: Adli
Goals: 1:0 Förster (19.), 2:0 Asano (34.), 3:0 Stöger (86.)
Referee: Tobias Welz (Wiesbaden)
Attendance: 26,000 (sold out) at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion
The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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