Werkself Review #FEYB04: 'Great credit to the team'

Summary: Turned on the turbo early

There was a raucous atmosphere at the legendary 'De Kuip' stadium before kick-off, with a DJ and heavy bass. The confident Werkself soon quietened the home crowd, though, with Florian Wirtz scoring a cheeky opening goal after just five minutes. Alejandro Grimaldo made it 2-0 with a clinical finish on the half-hour mark before Wirtz added another on 36 minutes with a delightful strike. Edmond Tapsoba's header, helped in by Feyenoord goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther, made it 4-0 before the half-time whistle had even gone. The goals dried up after the break, but there was more delight for the visitors as both Aleix Garcia and Jeanuel Belocian also made their debuts in Europe's premier club competition. Click HERE for the full match report.

Reaction: 'Chance conversion was great'

Two-goal hero Wirtz emphasised after Leverkusen's record UCL win (see statistics below): "We should definitely be pleased. We played against a strong team, defended very well and took our chances. It was a deserved win." On his debut in the Champions League, the 21-year-old added: "I'd been looking forward to this evening a lot over the last few days, and I took that into the game. I certainly didn't expect to score two goals straight away in the first half."

Granit Xhaka also gave his view: "To play like that here against very good opponents - great credit to the team. The stadium went quieter after the first two goals, which suited us. The chance conversion was great, too, which is hugely important as you don't get 10 clear chances in the Champions League."

Head coach Xabi Alonso summarised: "It looks easy but it certainly wasn't easy to achieve. We had to seize control in the early stages and find spaces. After that we were very compact and took our chances."

What the paper say: 'Brutally efficient first half'

Bild focuses on Wirtz's debut in their report, calling it "the very special Wirtz game". It was "a debut that he probably couldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams". kicker writes: "Bayer demolished Feyenoord already before the break. Thanks to a brutally efficienct first half, Leverkusen celebrated a clear 4-0 opening success at Feyenoord." The Rheinische Post talks of a "perfect start" and gave the best scores to Robert Andrich as well as Wirtz. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, which also awarded Andrich and Wirtz a 1 for their performance, says: "Leverkusen start the Champions League with a comprehensive win. In their opening victory at Feyenoord, the Werkself already made sure of the result in the first half." The Süddeutsche Zeitung neatly summarised the proceedings in three words: "Leverkusen streamroll Rotterdam".

Personnel: 04 UCL debuts

For Wirtz and Boniface, it was a particularly emotional evening at 'De Kuip' as the attacking duo made their debuts in the UEFA Champions League. Wirtz, at the age of 21 years and 139 days, also became the second-youngest Bayer 04 player to score on his debut in the competition after Marko Babic, who was 21 years and 43 days when he netted against Juventus in March 2002. What's more, Wirtz is the first German player to net twice on his UCL debut. The youngster is now on 14 European goals for Bayer 04 - only Ulf Kirsten has scored more times for the club in Europe's main competitions (30, Moussa Diaby also on 14). Logically, the Werkself's No. 10 was also voted 'Man of the Match'.

As mentioned, summer signings Garcia and Belocian also registered their maiden Champions League appearances when they came on for Leverkusen.

Stats: Best first half

As they say, there's a first time for everything - and that was the case in Rotterdam on Thursday evening. For the first time in the club's history, the Werkself scored four times in the first half of a Champions League fixture.

Aside from the goals, the stats from the game are fairly even: 11-12 shots on goal from Bayer 04's point of view, 49 percent possession and 52 percent tackles won. Feyenoord bettered Leverkusen's pass completion (88% by one percentage point.

Looking ahead: Wolfsburg, Munich, Milan

The games come thick and fast for the German champions. On Sunday 22 September (kick-off 15:30 CEST), VfL Wolfsburg visit the BayArena. That's followed by the crunch clash against FC Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday 28 September (18:30 CEST). The next Champions League match is on Tuesday 1 October (21:00 CEST) at home to Italian runners-up AC Milan.