What the papers say: 'No room for a miracle'

'No bonus after the bonus match' was the headline in the kicker and the sports journal asserts: "As Atletico Madrid did not slip up in the race for second spot in the other game against Lokomotiv Moscow, the Peter Bosz team were mathematically out of the running regardless of their own result. The reason there was no potential sensation in this tricky group was not down to the final matchday." The 2-0 against the Italian serial champions was "an unlucky defeat for the Bayer team who were unable make the most of a mature performance." The match analysis in the kicker reported that Bayer 04 were on the front foot from the start. "The desire to attack was covered by a strong defence on the right with Lars Bender and Dragovic as well as on the left with the disciplined Sinkgraven who supported Diaby. Aránguiz benefited from that in his search to win the ball. He and Demirbay covered back at every opportunity to move play back towards the Juventus goal and Alario again and again energetically pressed the first player in the build-up for the visitors."

Praise for players and fans

There was lots of praise for the Werkself players from the sports journal – and also from the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. Lars Bender shut out Cristiano Ronaldo on the right side of the defence and the newspaper attributed "perfect timing in challenges" to Aleksandar Dragovic. Charles Aránguiz was seen as "an impressive winner and distributor of the ball, not just in the centre but everywhere" and Moussa Diaby enriched the Werkself game as "a latent source of danger thanks to his pace." The Anzeiger summed up the result with the headline: "No room for a miracle.

The reporters not only gave good reports about the players but the Werkself supporters also came in for praise. "The Leverkusen fans obviously decided to get right behind their team for the encounter with the serial champions from Italy led by Cristiano Ronaldo," reported the Rheinische Post. "In the opening stages, each successful sliding tackle from Aleksandar Dragovic, each challenge won by Charles Aránguiz and every courageous shot from Moussa Diaby were celebrated like an opening goal."

Boost for the derby

The BILD believes the Werkself are on the right track despite going out. "The Bayer performance against the Italians provides a boost for the coming challenges in the Europa League – and for Saturday’s Rhine derby in Cologne," reports the tabloid that particularly praises the first-half performance: "Bayer kept the game against the Juve stars including Cristiano Ronaldo (34), Gonzalo Higuain (32) and Gianluigi Buffon (41) alive for a long time with 58% possession in the first half." However, the paper continues, "there was a lack of a clear idea in front of the Buffon goal in the second half."

So the game was decided by a goal from the five-time World Player of the Year. "Bayer tried everything but Cristiano Ronaldo came out on top in the end," reports the Kölnische Rundschau. "Bayer impressed on Wednesday with their determination but once again Ronaldo, who also scored in the away game, was once again too strong in front of a sell-out 29,542 crowd at the BayArena."

The EXPRESS is already looking forward to Saturday after the exit from the Champions League: "In the end, the fans focused on Saturday’s derby away to FC Köln. In addition to a range of songs there was also a banner with the clear demand: Bring home the derby win!"