What the papers say: 'An assist with a sore head'

Frankfurter Rundschau: "Leverkusen, who won on their last three visits at Schalke, were the better team for much of the game… The Werkself were free-flowing and they succeeded in cutting off the attempted attacks by the Royal Blues before they got started."

Stuttgarter Zeitung under the headline 'Bogey team strikes back': "The visitors took the initiative early on and had much of the possession. However, there were few clear chances. The hosts sat back for much of the early stages but became more adventurous after 20 minutes."

Kölner Stadt Anzeiger: "In the first half, the game developed as Heiko Herrlich had predicted: The hosts initially focused on defence and looked to play on the break. That gave Leverkusen the opportunity to shape the game but attacking input rarely led to clear-cut chances."

Kölnische Rundschau: "Bayer miss out on victory. Leverkusen were the better team in the 1-1 draw at Schalke."

The Bild Zeitung quotes the scorer of the equaliser Leon Bailey: "A really special moment. The coach said: go on and do what you can do best." The tabloid praised the provider of the assist: "Lars Bender set up substitute Bailey to make it 1-1.  An assist with a sore head: Bayer's number eight received treatment to the back of his head for several minutes after a collision with Kehrer (56'). The pass to Bailey was his first touch of the ball after coming back on the pitch."

"The hard as iron pro"

The Express , under the headline ' Reggae goal from Bailey lets Bayer celebrate', also highlights the part played by the Werkself captain: "The hard as iron pro from Bayer received stitches to his head on the pitch, bravely kept on going and wore a bandage as he carried on. Afterwards the midfielder dealt with it with a shot of humour. 'My foot's okay,' he said in response to questions from the press about his state of health."

Rheinische Post: "The Werkself earned their first away point of the season at FC Schalke. The draw keeps Heiko Herrlich's team in touch with the European qualification places for the time being...Leverkusen had the upper hand in the opening stages. At the same time, Bayer 04 failed to make the most of their apparent superiority."

The verdict in the Kicker: "Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen deservedly shared the points in a 1-1 draw in an equally balanced Friday night match. After a quiet opening stage, Goretzka got the game going with a fine free-kick goal, Bayer sub Bailey provided a boost after the restart– and scored the leveller. Schalke picked up a point after two defeats while Leverkusen earned their very first point away from home."