#B04ATA review: ‘Not clinical enough'

Summary: Diaby's big chances

With five changes to the starting line-up from the 1-0 defeat against FC Köln, the Werkself warmed up in T-shirts bearing the names and numbers of the injured Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong – and then they started well in the game. In front of 19,871 spectators at the BayArena, Moussa Diaby had the first big chance on eight minutes but he shot straight at the keeper. Atalanta, whose captain Rafael Toloi went off injured after ten minutes, were compact in defence and they launched attacks again and again. An intensive first half ended goalless.

In the second half, Diaby had another massive chance but his solo run ended with the Atalanta keeper Juan Musso making a save with his leg (48'). Head coach Gerardo Seoane made three changes on the hour mark as he bolstered the attack. However, the crucial goal did not come even with the new players on the pitch – in contrast to the opponents: Jeremy Boga scored the only goal of the game in added time to knock out the Werkself at the Round of 16 stage. HERE is the match report…

Reaction: "We could have done better"

"We did better than in the first leg," said a downbeat Jonathan Tah after the final whistle. Nevertheless, in response to going out he was "very disappointed. We weren't clinical enough overall. We could have done better. In the end we just couldn't get the goal." Robert Andrich took a similar position: "We are really angry with ourselves! We have to admit that we just couldn't get the goal at the crucial moments."

Gerardo Seoane did congratulate the visitors from Bergamo. The Swiss coach added: "We played well for large parts of the game today. From a solid defence we produced enough of a threat in transition to score a goal. At the end of the day, the poor 40 minutes in Bergamo were the reason for us going out in the Round of 16 and that we weren't effective enough today.”

Personnel: Landmark for Tah – duo make comeback

Central defender Jonathan Tah would obviously have wished for a different result on his special day. Nevertheless, the impressive landmark of the 26-year-old deserves to be mentioned. The duel with Atalanta was match number 250 for our number four since his transfer from Hamburg SV in the summer of 2015. Here's to many more, Jona!

The other good news was that Robert Andrich and Karim Bellarabi returned from injury to make their comebacks with the first team. Both had been sidelined through injury for several weeks and came on last night after 61 minutes along with winter signing Sardar Azmoun.

Stats: More shots on goal, more possession

The match stats slightly favour the Werkself: The Seoane team had two thirds of possession and their pass completion of 80% was better than that of the North Italian side (72%) and there were also three more shots at goal. The visitors only came out on top in terms of challenges with a rate of 53%.

What the papers say: "Better but not good enough"

The Rheinische Post reports the events at the start of the match as follows: "After the two teams thrilled the spectators with numerous attacking moves in the first meeting, the return leg was more tactical." The Frankfurter Rundschau headline reads "Better but not good enough." The best assessments in the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger on the Werkself side were for Piero Hincapie and Mitchel Bakker – both with 2.5, and the latter was awarded a mark of 2 in the Bild.

Outlook: Via Wolfsburg to the international break

The Werkself have one game left in March – and that is another worth watching. Sunday 20 March brings a Bundesliga away game at a revitalised VfL Wolfsburg. The kick-off at the Volkswagen Arena is at 17.30 CET. Then comes the international break followed by the game against Hertha Berlin at the BayArena on 2 April.