Head coach Xabi Alonso made six changes to his starting line-up from the 5-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt, with Matej Kovar resuming his role as the goalkeeper in the Europa League. The first opportunity of the evening fell to Roma striker Romelu Lukaku after four minutes, but the Belgian took a heavy touch and Kovar was able to gather. For the Werkself, Adam Hlozek was at the heart of the link-up play in attack, while the visitors from Italy mostly opted for the long ball. Exequiel Palacios registered the first attempt on the Roma goal on 16 minutes. The action livened up after that and AS captain Lorenzo Pellegrini tested Kovar with a header.
On it went with a deflected shot and a dangerous free kick from Hlozek. Leverkusen then really should've led after a big double chance for Amine Adli and Hlozek in the 39th minute. They were punished a few minutes later when referee Danny Makkelie suddenly pointed to the spot from a cross, having spotted a tug on the shirt of Werkself loanee Sardar Azmoun by Jonathan Tah in the box. Leandro Paredes made no mistake from the resulting penalty to give Roma the lead, and the half-time whistle followed shortly.
With both sides unchanged, the early exchanges in the second half belonged to the Werkself, for whom Adli fired the first effort on 54 minutes. After that, the momentum swung back towards the visitors - and things became confusing. A good two minutes had passed after a Roma corner before play was stopped and referee Makkelie interrupted the match on the advice of the VAR. The Dutchman watched the replay of the earlier corner and pointed to the penalty spot for the second time on the night because of an unintentional handball from Hlozek in the box. Paredes again stepped up, and the Argentinian again found the net to level the aggregate score.
While two spot-kicks had been enough for the Giallorossi, Adli missed chance number 23 of the game for Leverkusen. With Florian Wirtz now on the pitch, Alejandro Grimaldo took a corner in the 83rd minute - and it bounced off the body of Roma's Gianluca Mancini and into the net! There were frenzied celebrations among those in black and red, with Dublin within their grasp. But that wasn't it. The almost inevitable happened: in the seventh minute of added time, substitute Josip Stanisic fired the ball into the net to make it 2-2 on the night. The run goes on, but far more importantly: the Werkself are in the final of a European competition for the third time in the club's history!
The Werkself conclude the 33rd and penultimate matchday of this Bundesliga season on Sunday 12 May (kick-off 19:30 CEST) away to VfL Bochum 1848. One week later, Bayer 04 will be presented with the Bundesliga trophy for the first time following the home clash against FC Augsburg on Saturday 18 May (15:30 CEST).
Match stats
Bayer 04: Kovar - Frimpong (Stanisic 90'), Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie - Xhaka, Palacios - Adli, Hofmann (Wirtz 81'), Grimaldo (Kossounou 90') - Hlozek (Schick 74')
AS Roma: Svilar - Mancini, Ndicka, Angelino (Smalling 80') - El Shaarawy, Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini (Abraham 80'), Spinazzola (Zalewski 21') - Azmoun (Bove 72'), Lukaku
Goals: 0-1 Paredes (43' pen), 0-2 Paredes (66' pen), 1-2 Mancini (83 o.g.), 2-2 Stanisic (90'+7)
Yellow cards: Tapsoba, Tah, Wirtz / Mancini, Paredes, Zalewski
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
Attendance: 30,210 (sellout) at the BayArena
Exciting experiences and exclusive insights into the Werkself and the BayArena awaited the young footballers from the BA04 Football Academy Guangzhou in China during their visit to the Rhineland this week. As well as taking part in a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy, the youngsters marvelled at the Bundesliga club’s stadium during a guided tour. The highlight of the visit was a private press conference with former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling, during which he shared tips from his own career with the young players. On Saturday afternoon, 10 October, the group will round off their visit by supporting the Werkself in the away match in Mainz.
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Fun, games and promising talent: At the fourth Bayer 04 Junior Girls’ Talent Day at the Kurtekotten training centre, 90 football-mad girls had the chance to put themselves forward for the Werkself youth teams. During a 90-minute training session, children born between 2011 and 2019 had the chance to demonstrate their skills.
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Despite the international break, numerous Werkself fans turned up at the BayArena on Saturday 3 October. The occasion: Bayer 04, together with Bayer Vital and main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer, organised a Health Day. In the stadium’s Premium Lounge, guests listened to fascinating talks on the subject of cancer, featuring, amongst others, Bayer 04 record appearance holder Rüdiger Vollborn and former Werkself player Hans Sarpei. Afterwards, young and old alike enjoyed interactive stations such as a grip strength test and eye pupil test.
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In issue #56 of Werkself Magazine, Afonso Moreira offers some interesting insights into his home country, Portugal, as part of the ‘Sag mal’ (Tell me) feature. Among other things, the 21-year-old talks about his favourite places in the country on the Iberian Peninsula, the local cuisine and music, as well as heroes and historical figures beyond the world of football. ‘Sag mal’ with Afonso Moreira!
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