“Bayer 04 have continued their upward trend in the Bundesliga” – that is the start of the analysis in the F.A.Z.. The journal continues: In a watchable encounter with the Sport Club on the back of a mediocre start to the season, the Argentinian Lucas Alario was the man of the match.” The central striker turned the game around before half-time with two goals following the early concession of the opening goal and thereby set his team on course for the third league win in succession.
Looking at the previous fixtures against the team from the Breisgau, the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger starts as follows. “There were only three goals to be seen in the last three Leverkusen appearances at FC Freiburg,” the report read. Another fact followed: “The Werkself are unbeaten after six matchdays for the first time in eleven years.”
The Kölnische Rundschau focuses on Alario with the headline “Alario fires Bayer up the table”. And adds: “Lucas Alario remains a lifesaver for Bayer Leverkusen in this season. The ice cool Argentinian almost single-handedly turned the game round in the 4-2 win at SC Freiburg with a brace before the break and put the Werkself in the top group in the Bundesliga.” The double goalscorer at Freiburg has netted five of the last ten league goals for the Black and Reds.
“Wonder goal from Amiri, Alario bags another brace,” the Rheinische Post reports and awards the latter top marks. Five other Leverkusen players receive a two or a two minus: Lukas Hradecky, Julian Baumgartlinger, Florian Wirtz, Kerem Demirbay and Nadiem Amiri. The kicker names Alario Man of the Match.
The Bild includes Alario in their Team of the Matchday. The newspaper also quotes sporting managing director Rudi Völler. The 60-year-old: “Two goals. That’s obviously great. But Lucas also did a lot of work covering back.” On the fourth goal from Jonathan Tah: “Tah heads away the frustration of the bench. The shout of celebration was clearly to be heard at the empty stadium in Freiburg. ‘Yes, Jona’, roared Leon Bailey (23) after the headed goal from Jonathan Tah (24) to make it 4-2. The defender came on in the 64th minute to settle the result for Bayer with his header: ‘If you come on then you have to give your all.’”
A cracker of a semi-final at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The Bayer 04 U19 team entertain Bayern Munich on Saturday, 10 May (kick-off: 11:00 CEST/stadium opens: 10:00 CEST). In front of a home crowd, the team led by head coach Sergi Runge, who welcomes back an attacking player, is looking to build on the battling performances from the previous knockout games and "perform at the right moment." Tickets are available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the game will also be broadcast live on Sky.
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Germany U17 head coach Marc Meister has called up three Bayer 04 youth players for the forthcoming UEFA U17 European Championship. The tournament involving eight teams runs from 19 May to 1 June in Albania.
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"We have mixed feelings overall today," said head coach Xabi Alonso after the 2-2 draw away to SC Freiburg. Bayer 04 were deservedly 2-0 down against the Champions League contenders up to the closing minutes but fought back with a double whammy from Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Tah to earn a point in the end. That maintains the run of unbeaten away games in the Bundesliga – the all-time record has been achieved! The Werkself review.
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Bayer 04 have now gone 33 Bundesliga away games in succession without defeat and thereby equalled the record set by Bayern Munich: Jonathan Tah netted the equaliser at 2-2 in added time away to SC Freiburg on his 400th appearance for the Werkself. SCF took a 2-0 lead with a strike from Maximilian Eggestein (44') and a Piero Hincapie own goal (48') before Florian Wirtz pulled a goal back on 82 minutes.
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