What the papers say: Game full of aggression and power

It was the newly promoted club that impressed the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: “The wonderful journey of RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga continues. The team from the Red Bull empire beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-2 in a spectacular match at the BayArena on Friday night, are top of the table for the night at least and they deserved it. … The game was full of aggression and power, no player could dwell on the ball without being pressed by two or three opponents. Every lost ball could lead to a threatening counter-attack. Bayer 04 had more possession but Leipzig posed more of a threat. It was particularly difficult to deal with Forsberg and Werner on the left flank.”

The fact it was an attractive and spectacular match was down to both teams according to the report in the Rheinische Post: “Both sides were straight out of the blocks. It was 1-0 to Leverkusen in less than a minute. Within seconds the ball went via Wendell, Hakan Calhanoglu and Bayer’s most outstanding pro Julian Brandt to Kevin Kampl who converted clinically. It did not take long for the Saxons to respond. A corner from the left saw Sabitzer in the six-yard box in front of Baumgartlinger who was out of luck as the ball rebounded off his hip into his own net. That was – if you like – the starting shot for an intense football match. It was clear to see both teams play a similar style of football: early pressing, quickly switching play and taking a direct route to goal.”

The scribes of the Express thought the game had to end with the Werkself on top: “Good God, Bayer. If only Hakan Calhanoglu had converted the penalty... But in the right order. The spectacular encounter started with goals. 63 seconds into the game Julian Brandt raced away and crossed the ball perfectly for Kevin Kampl to score with ease. The Arena went wild. Bayer raced away and dealt the impudent newcomers a serious blow. Was that the end of the Leipzig dominance? No way. The Bulls hit back straight away.”

The Leipzig-based journal Mitteldeutsche Zeitung also saw the penalty as a turning point: “And Brandt started the second 45 where he left off at the break. The 20-year-old broke into the penalty area and ended up on the ground after a challenge from Ilsanker. Referee Brych awarded a penalty - a tough decision (53’). However, Calhanoglu failed to convert the spot kick ... In the period of the game after that, the visitors had more of the game and they increasingly seized the initiative. A short pass from Naby Keita found Emil Forsberg and he made his way from the halfway line to the edge of the box and was unchallenged when he shot at goal.”

For Bild, RB Leipzig stood out for ruthlessly exploiting every mistake the opposition made: “The sensational newcomers beat Bayer 3-2 to go top of the table at least until the battle of the giants between between Dortmund and Bayern. And the Saxons received great help from the opposition. Leipzig are really top. Leverkusen presented the newcomers with two goals on a silver platter. And also missed a penalty!