What the papers say: 'Bayer 04 clearly on course'

The Welt headline reads: 'Bailey inspires Leverkusen' and recalls late summer last year: "It's hard to believe after the 2-0 win against Mainz 05 that Leverkusen had problems at the start of the season with just four points from five games. After the 20 games the club have now played they are second in the table. The gap to league leaders FC Bayern is now a whopping 16 points. At the same time, Bayer 04 are clearly on course for Europe, which has been missing this season."

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung recognises, "that Bayer clearly don't want to give away second place in a hurry. Thanks to goals from Leon Bailey (48') and Wendell (68'), the Werkself earned a highly deserved victory over the in effective relegation candidates Mainz and, at the same time, underlined their desire to qualify for the Champions League group stages at the end of the season. In a one-sided game, Leverkusen dominated from the start... Mainz had to work really hard to protect their goal to a certain extent and they soon met their limits."

The Berliner Kurier felt the  need to indulge in a play on words: "Bayer celebrate Bailissimo again. Somebody is aiming for a beauty prize in the Bundesliga campaign. Last week, Leon Bailey scored a wonder goal with a back-heel for Leverkusen in the 4-1 win against Hoffenheim. Yesterday the Jamaican scored another great strike in the 2-0 victory over Mainz."

The Kölner Stadt Anzeiger also focuses on the decisive moment in the game: "The difference between all or nothing in football often depends on an individual action, a single event: a mistake, an act of God or a work of art. With Bayer 04 Leverkusen it has always been a work of art in recent victories. And the artist is called Leon Bailey. It was no different at the BayArena on Sunday afternoon. Everybody laboured in this match for 48 minutes, typical for the Bundesliga. A good team – Bayer 04 – played against a not so good one – Mainz 05. However, that did not make any difference to the result because the not so good team worked off all the differences with hard work and discipline. The superiority of hosts Bayer 04 Leverkusen rose dramatically in all measurable aspects up to half-time... Result 0-0. Then, after 48 minutes, Leon Bailey received the ball on the right and fired it into the net from 20 yards out with a mixture of precision and elegance. Get in! 1-0!"

Other headlines highlighting the scorer of the opening goal:

Kicker: 'The opener'

Süddeutsche Zeitung: 'Bailey makes Bayer better'

Express: 'Bayer back in second thanks to Bailey rocket'

The Rheinische Post identified 'Leverkusen elation' and wrote: "The opening goal came from  a tactical switch: Leon Bailey switched with Julian Brandt from the right to left side. The players considered the change during half-time."

The analysis on sportschau.de let numbers do the talking: "At the end of the day, Mainz trailed with two shots on goal compared with 14, with corners it was 0 to 13, and possession was 35 to 65 per cent."