What the papers say: 'Heiko's helping hand'

According to the Bild: "Leverkusen only flourished in extra time… In his first competitive match, coach Heiko Herrlich (45) saw his team beat third division Karlsruher SC 3-0 but the evening looked less positive for a long time. And not just because of the heavy rain. Bayer missed too many chances over the course of 90 minutes. Dominik Kohr (93'), Pohjanpalo (99') and Leon Bailey (105') only scored in extra time. That was enough to pacify Rudi Völler in the stands. In the second half of extra-time, Charles Aránguiz made a brief appearance – just nine days after taking part in full training again. After his extended summer break after the Confed Cup, the Chilean came on as the fourth substitute,"„

 The Kölner Stadt Anzeiger comes to the following conclusion: "In front of a 17,073 crowd at the Wildpark Stadium, the favourites found it difficult in their first competitive match after a weak pre-season. It was only in extra-time that the experience of the Bayer pros came to the fore with the rapid succession of goals putting paid to the team from Baden in pouring rain. In the goalless 90 minutes before, Leverkusen were ineffective in front of goal. Without the injured Lars Bender, the favourites were the superior side but clearly lacked the ability to finish… After the first goal in extra-time from a set piece taken by Julian Brandt, the team from Karlsruhe were beaten."

The Kölnische Rundschau declared: "The  players with a 'scoring allergy' at Bayer Leverkusen kept Heiko Herrlich on tenterhooks until extra-time when his team finally gave their new coach a clear victory in his first competitive outing."

Under the headline 'Heiko's helping hand', the Express summed up proceedings as followed: "These anxious 120 minutes were special for Herrlich: The tie at the Wildpark Stadium was his first competitive match as the Bayer 04 coach. In a game described by Herrlich as a "live or die" match, the Werkself found it extremely difficult against the third division side. The reason? Once again, a disastrous conversion rate. The 90 minutes were enough for the former world-class striker Herrlich to scratch his head. Once again, his lads up front found it difficult to finish as in the mixed pre-season friendlies. The Bayer players missed a host of chances – before the substitutes struck."

For the Kicker, it was a regulation win for Bayer 04: "The Werkself had to go into extra-time against KSC, where Kohr broke through to set Bayer on their way. Heiko Herrlich celebrated a successful competitive debut on the Bayer bench. Bayer looked the superior side and created chances that Havertz, Tah and, above all, Mehmedi failed to convert in the most impressive phase of the game for the Werkself. KSC were able to play their game to a certain extent after the first 30 minutes but the third division side were unable to seriously threaten the Bundesliga team. The Herrlich eleven showed commitment after the break but were again unable to press home their advantage up front. In extra-time, Kohr headed Leverkusen into the lead on 93 minutes from a Brandt free kick. The game was over for the battling third division side when Pohjanpalo doubled the lead six minutes later. The third goal came from a one-two between Brandt and Bailey. The Werkself then ran the clock down."

SID assesses the performance of our head coach after the game as follows: "Herrlich, who wants to lead the club back onto the European stage after a wasted season in spite of the departure of striker Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez, free kick specialist Hakan Calhanoglu and defensive stalwart Ömer Toprak, was impressive in overcoming his first test. The former international demonstrated his twelve years as youth coach and manager of lower league teams had given him a huge amount of experience. As Herrlich survived a serious illness (brain tumour) 17 years ago, he is clearly able to put the football business into perspective. He answered all questions in detail in a relaxed and patient manner. Even criticism fails to upset Herrlich – quite the contrary. 'You're right,' was his response to several questions. The coach takes an equally relaxed approach to the forthcoming match in Munich: 'Now we'll enjoy the win, then we'll prepare for the Bayern match.'