What the papers say: 'Tapsoba's punchline'

The Rheinische Post headline after the draw in Bavarian Swabia reads "Leverkusen’s status as a top team begins to unravel." Furthermore: "The Werkself have dropped out the top group. In the last ten league matches, Peter Bosz and his team have only picked up nine points – too few over the long term to be able to seriously talk about qualifying for the Champions League."

Kicker also looks at recent results for the Black and Reds. The sports journal reports that Bayer 04 are currently "lagging behind expectations." The performance of goalscorer Edmond Tapsoba earned a mark of 2.5. The magazine rewards the Burkina Faso international with a place in the 'Kicker Team of the Day'.

"Happiness hormones released"

The equaliser is the focus of attention in the report in the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger ("Tapsoba's punchline"). The newspaper writes: "The Augsburg bench […] were counting down the seconds in added time with the scoreline at 1-0. Substitute Demarai Gray put the ball in the box for a final time – right to the foot of Edmond Tapsoba who levelled at 1-1 on 94 minutes with a placed shot. The game was over from the restart. Bayer 04 Leverkusen avoided an almost certain looking defeat and, at the moment of equalising, released a few happiness hormones."

The match report in the Kölnische Rundschau also primarily looks at the leveller at 1-1 in added time. They say: "The late goal should give them courage for the forthcoming games with the first test on Thursday in the Europa League second leg against Young Boys Bern."

In the first leg at YB (3-4), the Werkself fought back to get on level terms in less than 20 minutes after being 3-0 down at half-time. The fourth goal of the night came in the final minutes. That means Bayer 04 need to win and concede less than three goals in the second leg on Thursday, 25 February (kick-off: 21.00 CET/live on DAZN and Werks11 Radio) to progress to the last 16 in the Europa League.