2–0 win at OFI Crete – Hofmann’s brace the reward for dominant Werkself

Head coach Carles Martínez made five changes to his starting XI for the away match on the Mediterranean coast, compared to the 2–1 home win against Freiburg in the league; amongst others, Europa League debutant Janis Blaswich started in goal and Jonas Hofmann – who had been drafted in just the day before to replace the injured Martin Terrier – started up front. Meanwhile, Robert Andrich, whose wife Alicia had given birth to their third child on the day of the match stayed behind in Leverkusen.

The Werkself initially had to be very patient as they sought to find a gap in the Greeks’ very tightly packed deep block. As the match progressed, the hosts becam bolder, and Blaswich was forced to stretch himself to the very limit in the 11th minute to stop an early attempt by Thiago Nuss. At the other end, Hofmann (19’) and captain Patrik Schick (22’) both went close. They were the two standout players in the Leverkusen attack, and the duo also had the another double chance in the 29th minute. Then the Werkself started ramping up the pressure! A long-range efort from Ezequiel Fernández was brilliantly saved (30'), followed by a trio of chances, each of which were thwarted (33').

Then, in the 35th minute, the deadlock was finally broken – with Black and Red’s 15th (!) attempt on target: Afonso Moreira let loose with a shot, OFI keeper Klidman Lilo parried it, but Hofmann cleverly pounced to make it 1–0! Now everything clicked – especially for Hofmann, who fired a pinpoint long-range thunderbolt into the bottom-left corner just three minutes later to double the lead (38')! The Werkself headed for the dressing room with this thoroughly deserved lead.

The second half began almost – but only almost – with Hofmann completing a hat-trick. But OFI keeper Lilo was able to make the stop (48’). Five minutes later, Blaswich had to be alert once again, before the action continued at the other end with Aleix Garcia (56’). Shortly afterwards, Martínez brought on Miguel Gutiérrez, Ibrahim Maza and Nathan Tella to inject fresh energy at a time when OFI were pushing hard again – albeit to no avail. Edmond Tapsoba and Moussa Diaby also came on in the closing stages; otherwise, the Werkself managed to hold onto the two-goal lead in a relatively uneventful manner, but with equal amounts of ruthlessness and composure. The game ended with that 2–0 scoreline, meaning Martínez’s side are unbeaten in Europe this season and have, at least temporarily, taken top spot in the 36-team UEL league phase table.

next up: away at TSG then three home games

Bayer 04: Blaswich - Vázquez (74' Tapsoba), Badé, Quansah, Medina (63' Gutiérrez) - Fernández, Garcia - Hofmann (63' Maza), Tillman (74' Diaby), Moreira - Schick (63' Tella)

Goals: 0-1 Hofmann (35'), 0-2 Hofmann (38')

Yellow cards: González - Garcia, Quansah, Fernández, Martínez (head coach)

Referee: Oleksii Derevinskyi (Ukraine)

Attendance: 16,750 at the Pankritio