What the papers say: ‘Juve send Bayer packing’

The Westdeutsche Zeitung writes: “Bayer did did produce a disciplined performance for an hour and succeeded in containing the five-time World Player of the Year Ronaldo in his first-ever game against Leverkusen. However, an ineffectual attacking display sees the target of reaching the Round of 16 appear more and more remote. The Werkself have to get results in the next two games against Atlético Madrid on 22 October in Spain and 6 November.”

The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger identifies “an improvement compared with the embarrassing 2-1 defeat against (Lokomotiv) Moscow - but commitment alone is not enough against a star-studded and enormously experienced Italian side. There was a lack of inspiration. And, as a result, threats on goal: The keeper Wojciech Szczęsny did not have to save a single Leverkusen effort over the 90 minutes. … Leverkusen did have around 60 per cent possession but did not really know what to do with it. Every impending attack was snuffed out by the outstanding central defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Matthjis de Ligt.”

For the Kölnische Rundschau “Bayer Leverkusen already have their backs to the wall after two group matches in the Champions League. … The Rheinlanders did put on a committed display but Bayer were miles away from landing the desired blow on the Italian serial champions. … Bayer showed great desire and endeavoured with all their might to escape the stranglehold but lost too many challenges in midfield so that Juve were able to set the tone with far less possession.” … In the second half, “Bayer were more courageous than before the break but neither the stand-in captain Kevin Volland, with his recent success in the Bundesliga, nor the young star Kai Havertz were able to find the right answers against the impressive Juve defence.”

The Bild highlights the goals tally of ‘CR7’ against German clubs: “Leverkusen never stood a chance of winning - partly because Cristiano Ronaldo (34) once again scored against a German team. The superstar made it 3-0 (89’) with his first goal against Leverkusen. He has now extended his return against Bundesliga clubs to 27 goals in 25 games!”

The Rheinische Post also looks at the Portuguese superstar: “No other player embodies the Champions League as much as Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese has already won this competition five times and he is also its all-time record goalscorer. The superstar particularly likes to score against German teams: The Juventus pro had scored 26 goals in his previous 24 matches against Bundesliga teams. On Tuesday night, he scored his 127^th goal just before the final whistle against Bayer Leverkusen – and he could definitely feel very satisfied. His ‘Old Lady’ team lived up to their billing as favourites on matchday two in the Champions League and inflicted a clear 3-0 win over the Werkself.”

The Kicker analysis under the headline ‘Lots of possession, little return: Juve send Bayer packing’: “Leverkusen made a bright start and did not look to sit back in this tough away game. Alario (3’) and Demirbay (8’) fired the first warning shots but they went over the bar. Bayer then suffered a setback on 17 minutes: A headed Tah clearance from Higuain was not powerful enough and the ball rebounded to the striker who hit it into the left corner of the net - 1:0! Bayer then had plenty of possession (a total of 58 per cent in the first half) but did not know what to do with it. They were too casual in the final third and the final ball did not reach its target. … The Werkself also had more of the possession after the restart and Aránguiz went close from a corner (48’). As in the first half, the visitors attacking efforts lacked imagination. Juventus were very passive at times but had control of the game thanks to their solid defence.”