What the papers say: 'Respectable exit from the European stage'

The Kölner Stadt Anzeiger declares: "There was no sign of a football miracle but Bayer 04 Leverkusen went out of the Champions League on Wednesday night with a decent performance." Furthermore, the newspaper reports: "A match without conceding in the atmosphere of the Madrid football temple against one of the best attacks on the continent is something few would have predicted for Leverkusen a few weeks ago... Leverkusen fought hard to compete in this match; undertook courageous runs, make tactical fouls when it was a matter of taking the tempo out of the opponent's game.

The Kölnische Rundschau reaches the following conclusion:"Bayer Leverkusen got out of the Champions League with their heads held high and their last appearance in the competition for the time being should give them a boost in confidence for the Bundesliga run-in. In the first European match for the new coach Tayfun Korkut the Werkself produced a courageous performance in the Round of 16 second leg match at last season's finalists Atlético Madrid to secure a notable 0-0 draw… After the break, Bayer continued to seek the impossible. On 69 minutes, Brandt, Volland and Chicharito missed the opportunity to open the scoring within seconds of each other." The newspaper particularly praised the performance of the defence: "The Rojiblancos were unable to breach a solid Bayer defence."

The Bild Zeitung described the quadruple chance for Brandt, Volland and Chicharito on 68 minutes as "incredible" and added: "It was evident Korkut set his team up well in his second match as coach. Bayer played well and got stuck into challenges." There was great praise for goalkeeper Bernd Leno: "The masked man Leno made two great saves to keep out Atlético (38'/40') just four days after the op on his nose." In addition, "Hilbert made an impressive comeback bringing the necessary calm and stability to the game."

The Express headline reads "Respectable exit from the European stage." The report continues: "The team under interim coach Tayfun Korkut kept their shape and saved their face. And that can be seen as success in this stormy period of crisis… Perhaps they could have been a miracle if the Bayer lads had been more clinical in and around the box. Or if they had had a little more luck."

"The Werkself pros saved their face in their early departure from the Champions League," wrote the Ruhr Nachrichten. "With their committed performance the Leverkusen players revived their heavily diminished confidence." Furthermore: "It was not the hosts with France's brilliant dribbler Antoine Griezmann and strike partner Angel Correa who had the first chances. No, it was Kevin Volland who drifted past to Atletico defenders in the host's penalty area on four minutes to unleash a shot on goal."