Head coach Xabi Alonso made four changes to the team that started Saturday’s 2-1 win at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga. Matej Kovar was in goal in place of Lukas Hradecky, Nordi Mukiele came in for Arthur at right-back, while Exequiel Palacios and Florian Wirtz started for Aleix Garcia and Patrik Schick, who were on the bench.
Both teams worked on sizing each other up in the opening stages of this big round of 16 tie. The Werkself looked to be solid in defence, while the hosts had most of the ball in the early period. The first chance of note came for Bayer 04 in the 11th minute when Piero Hincapie forced the Bayern defence into a mistake and the ball fell for Wirtz, but he snatched his effort wide.
The big talking point of the game then came just after the quarter-hour mark when Jeremie Frimpong was upended by Neuer when chasing a long ball. Referee Harm Osmers produced a red card for the Bayern captain, giving the Werkself a man advantage in this intense encounter.
Frimpong had a great chance to put Leverkusen ahead in the first half when found by Wirtz left of goal, but he was denied by the outstretched leg of substitute goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. Bayern then started to find their feet again and grew into the game late in the period, with opportunities coming and going for Konrad Laimer, Kingsley Coman, Leon Goretzka and Minjae Kim as it remained goalless at the break.
Alonso introduced Schick for Robert Andrich for the second half. Wirtz then had the first notable chance as he dragged a Frimpong cutback wide from the edge of the box. The game was over for Schick shortly after when he went down holding his calf. He was replaced by Tella, while Arthur came on for Mukiele. Chances were few and far between after that until Tella got on the end of Alejandro Grimaldo’s cross from the left into the area and headed home from close range. The 10 men pushed for a leveller but looked bereft of ideas against the organised Werkself defence as the holders held on to advance to the quarter-finals of the DFB Pokal.
This busy spell continues for the Werkself with a home game against St. Pauli in the Bundesliga on Saturday (3.30pm CET). Bayer 04 then welcome Inter Milan to Leverkusen for the sixth game of the UEFA Champions League’s league phase on Tuesday (9pm).
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Kovar – Mukiele (Arthur 61'), Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie – Frimpong, Xhaka, Andrich (Schick 46 (Tella 61')), Palacios, Grimaldo – Wirtz
FC Bayern: Neuer – Laimer (Boey 72'), Upamecano, Kim (Tel 84'), Davies - Kimmich, Goretzka (Pavlovic 72') - Sané (Peretz 19'), Musiala, Coman (Gnabry 72') - Olise
Goals: 0-1 Tella (68')
Yellow cards: Upamecano, Goretzka, Freund – Tapsoba, Wirtz, Parrilla, Kovar
Red card: Neuer
Referee: Harm Osmers
Attendance: 74,000 (sold out) at the Allianz Arena
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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