With two changes from the side that drew 1-1 at Bayern Munich (Palacios and Alario for Hincapie and Demirbay) the Werkself took the lead after eleven minutes – Charles Aránguiz scored for the first time in two years on the European stage. It continued to look good for the Black and Reds. However, Atalanta turned the game round out of the blue in two minutes with goals from Ruslan Malinovskyi (23’) and Luis Muriel (25’) and they took control from that point. The Italian side increased their lead at the start of the second half with Muriel making it 3-1 (49'). Bayer 04 head coach Gerardo Seoane finally decided to change the formation on the hour mark when he brought on Odilon Kossounou for Lucas Alario to play with a back three instead of a back four – the right move as proved to be the case. The Werkself fought back and the goal to make it 3-2 scored by Moussa Diaby (63') provides every chance of going through to the quarter-finals next week. HERE is the match report.
Central defender Jonathan Tah summed up proceedings as follows: "We started really well, then conceded a simple goal and we looked shaky." The Germany international commented on the current situation: "We would have liked a better result but we haven't lost yet. It's still possible to go through." And goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky said the performance of his team "makes me believe we can beat them at home next week."
Head coach Gerardo Seoane declared in taking account of the short preparation time for the derby against FC Köln in two days time: "We're not thinking about Sunday's game yet straight after the final whistle. But we are used to having 48 hours to prepare for the next match. We know it will be intense again on Sunday. Today was a taster."
There's no doubt: The Man of the Match for the Werkself was goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, who had no chance with any of the three goals conceded. The captain saved a number of good chances for the Italians and kept Bayer 04 in the game head coach Gerardo Seoane: "We can thank Lukas that it stayed at 3-1."
The performance of the Finn brought top marks in the Rheinische Post. The reasoning: "It was definitely not a pleasant evening for the Finn in northern Italy with his inability to prevent the goals conceded. However, he did save what needed saving and outstandingly at times." The Bild Zeitung also gave him top marks.
Bayer 04 would definitely have preferred a different result in the 50th Europa League game. Possession as well as challenges and pass completion were all evenly balanced between the two teams. Atalanta only had their noses in front with shots at goal: The hosts had 18 compared with seven for the Werkself.
The Rheinische Post reports on the atmosphere at the Gewiss Stadium: "The fans from Bergamo ensured a great European night atmosphere ahead of kick-off with some outstanding choreography – and thereby left an impression on the visiting players." Bild assessed proceedings as follows: "Bayer started well. Aránguiz scored from 16 yards out following a tiki-taka move (11'). The celebration of the 600 travelling Leverkusen fans quickly evaporated. Leverkusen gave away the lead in 113 seconds." Looking at the second leg, kicker sees the 3-2 scoreline as follows: "Bayer 04 are still in with a chance of progressing to the quarter-finals." There is "potential for suspense" in the second duel at the BayArena.
The Werkself are at home to FC Köln on Sunday 13 March. The derby kicks off at 15.30 CET. The Europa League Round of 16 second leg against Atalanta follows 04 days later (kick-off: 18.45 CET). The second double fixture week is rounded off by a Bundesliga away game at VfL Wolfsburg (Sunday 20 March at 17.30 CET) and that is followed by the next international break.
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