What the papers say: 'Crazy snowball fight'

The headline in the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger alludes to the filmed bestseller by the Danish author Peter Høeg: 'Leverkusen's Feeling for Snow.' The article refers to probably the most curious incident in the match: "The whole absurdity of the game revealed itself on 33 minutes at the wintry HDI Arena. Jonathan Tah and Lukas Hradecky both contrived to misjudge a long ball, Genki Haraguchi suddenly found himself completely unmarked in front of an empty Bayer 04 goal. The Japan international did what every amateur player would do in this situation: He hit the ball low and towards the centre of the goal and then turned to celebrate. What happened next, only normally happens in amateur football: The ball stopped in the wet turf centimetres before the line."

And the Kölnische Rundschau also looked for an image reflecting the weather in their headline: 'Leverkusen kings of the snow' and reports: "The Bayer 04 Leverkusen pros romped around the snow-covered turf and celebrated their last-minute win in style with their travelling fans. In contrast, the Hannover 96 players' expressions were not just frozen by the return of Jack Frost."

The short assessment in the Cologne newspaper Express  read: "In the end, Bayer celebrated a fortunate but also deserved 3-2 win against a Hannover side almost beyond saving."

The Kicker highlights the general improvement of the Werkself: "Leverkusen's race to secure a Champions League spot continues after a late goal from Kai Havertz. Thanks to the 3-2  victory at Hannover, Bayer move up to fifth place for the time being at least and are now only four points behind Borussia Mönchengladbach and RB Leipzig, who are third and fourth in the table."

The Bild Zeitung draws a comparison with another memorable encounter that happened 45 years ago: "At the 1974 World Cup there was the legendary water fight in the game between Germany and Poland. Yesterday, the Bundesliga experienced a crazy snowball fight." The incident involving Haraguchi is dealt  with in detail: "The ball rolled, rolled and rolled. And then stopped 15 centimetres short of the line due to the snow-covered turf. Tah was able to clear with ease."

The Rheinische Post looks at the impressive start for the Werkself: "Ignoring the atrocious weather conditions, Leverkusen initially carried on from where they left off in the impressive performances of the past few weeks. Even without the injured Lars and Sven Bender, the Werkself dominated the game on a pitch covered with snow. When Kevin Volland, captain on the day, tapped in the opening goal on 13 minutes, the game appeared to be taking its predicted course. By the time of his second goal, where the 26-year-old received the ball from Julian Brandt and then beat the 96 keeper Michael Esser with an impressive lob (28'), the supporters of the Lower Saxony team must have feared another disaster."

The newspapers  in Hanover assess the encounter from the perspective of the hosts. '96 miss out on winter fairy tale', reads the headline in the Hannoversche Allgemeine. The Neue Presse witnessed 'The snow drama' and reports  with an eye on the turbulent events in the club over the past few days: "Now even the weather  is affected by the catastrophe atmosphere at 96. Miserable, persistent rain made the whole city wet during the day and then it turned to snow just as the game kicked off. First it fluttered down and then fell heavier and heavier on the pitch. Ideally a perfect covering of snow for the less talented 96 players and even the highly talented Leverkusen team were unable to produce their perfected passing game."