Compared with the line-up for the 2-0 derby win at FC Köln, head coach Xabi Alonso made nine changes. Only Jonathan Tah and Robert Andrich started again. Good news: Exequiel Palacios made his first start after recovering from a muscular injury. And the midfielder was immediately involved with his usual physical approach to the game.
With cold wind and constant rain, the hosts made an attacking and physical start to the match with vocal support at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium. The Werkself remained unmoved and initially dealt well with the high pressing of their opponents. However, the final crucial pass was missing. As on eleven minutes: Edmond Tapsoba brought the ball back into the mix from a corner but nobody was there to find the back of the net. The hosts remained persistent at the other end: Qarabag's Juninho tested the Bayer 04 keeper Matej Kovar from close range and Abdellah Zoubir hit the rebound against the post (25').
The Leverkusen defence then made a serious mistake in their own half with Juninho winning the ball: The Brazilian put teammate Yassine Benzia through and he scored to make it 1-0 for the Azerbaijani side. The hosts also had the better chances after the opening goal. The Werkself made another mistake in added time with Patrick Andrade finding striker Juninho who rounded off a counter-attack to give Qarabag a 2-0 lead at the end of the first half (45+2').
The Werkself were more on the front foot after the restart but found it difficult to get going at first. Alonso made a double substitution on 57 minutes with the introduction of Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz. The latter had a shot from a tight angle just after the hour mark (61'). The game was now different from the action in the first half – Bayer 04 were increasingly on top. The reward came on 70 minutes: This time former Bayer 04 keeper Andrey Lunev in the Qarabag goal made a misplaced pass – Wirtz exploited that to score with an impressive lob to make it 2-1 (70’). The Werkself continued to press and were mostly camped outside the opposition box. The Black and Reds were finally rewarded for their great effort late on: In added time, Robert Andrich hit a cross from the right to find Patrik Schick with the Czechia international heading the ball into the left corner of the net for the final score of 2-2.
Bayer 04 return to Leverkusen on Friday, 8 March. The Black and Reds now have two home games: The Werkself entertain VfL Wolfsburg on Bundesliga Matchday 25 on Sunday, 10 March (kick-off: 19.30 CET). Four days later, on Thursday, 14 March (kick-off: 21.00 CET) is the Europa League Round of 16 second leg against Qarabag at the BayArena.
Match stats:
Qarabag: Lunev – Vesovic, Mustafazade, Hüseynov, Bayramov – Andrade (Silva 79'), Jankovic – L. Andrade, Benzia, Zoubir – Juninho (Akhundzade 84')
Bayer 04: Kovar – Kossounou (Stanisic 80'), Tah, Tapsoba, Grimaldo – Tella (Frimpong 46'), Palacios (Xhaka 57'), Andrich, Adli – Hlozek (Wirtz 57'), Iglesias (Schick 80')
Goals: 1-0 Benzia (26’), 2-0 Juninho (45+2’), 2-1 Wirtz (70’), 2-2 Schick (90+2’)
Yellow card: Juninho
Referee: Benoit Bastien (France)
Attendance: 30,000 at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium
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