What the papers say: 'Energetic performance in front of record crowd'

The Kölner Stadt Anzeiger title on Thursday reads: “Kampl scores at Wembley in front of record crowd” and the paper describes the atmosphere in London: “At the already history-laden venue in the London Borough of Brent this night saw the addition of another record: The 85,512 spectators broke the previous record attendance for a club fixture in England (85,011 – set in Spurs first Champions League group match on 14 September in the 2-1 defeat to Monaco). The crowd included around 2,200 Bayer 04 fans. They all witnessed a somewhat less than high quality yet always exciting encounter.”

The Kölnische Rundschau sees “Leverkusen on course for Round of 16”: “The first win for Leverkusen in England was fully deserved after a great, energetic performance in spite of a final push by the Londoners. ‘It’s a day I’ll never forget,’ said Kampl on ZDF.” The report continues: “The English failed to break down a well-organised Bayer 04 defence at the mecca of football with the recently injured Ömer Toprak and Germany international Jonathan Tah doing a good job overall along with their fellow defenders.”

The Bild report under the headline “Wembley winner!” reads: “And how he (Kevin Kampl) enjoyed playing at the London cathedral of football! Bayer, who can still win games in the Champions League, achieved a 1-0 victory at Tottenham to register a first win since 16 September 2015 (4-1 against BATE Borisov) and now have one leg in the Round of 16. Wembley winner! Kampl scores, has fun and has to go off injured! 65 minutes: Aránguiz shoots from the edge of the box. Deflected by Davies. The ball ends up at Kampl’s feet. The Slovenian slots the ball into the net from six yards out – 1-0 to Bayer!”

The Kicker analysis is: “Exactly at the point of the game when it appeared to be turning the hosts’ way, Kampl scored the winner for Bayer 04.” The football journal concludes: “In spite of a slight advantage in chances for Tottenham, Bayer 04 earned a deserved away win thanks to a mature performance.” The man of the match for kicker is Kevin Kampl: “Extremely busy, always alert and solid on the ball: Kevin Kampl was Leverkusen’s driving force in midfield and started the move for the winning goal himself.”

The press review ends with the Rheinische Post: “One thing was certain at the end of an entertaining evening: The 1-0 win for Leverkusen in the fourth Champions League group match will go down in the annals. (…) The Leverkusen pressing put Tottenham under serious pressure and kept them on the defensive for much of the time – but they still posed a threat in quick counter attacks when the visitors pushed up. That made this match a lively encounter.