Werkself bow out of Europa League after 2-1 defeat

Bayer 04 played the first European quarter-final since 2008 under special circumstances: Not in Leverkusen or Milan but in front of empty seats in Düsseldorf – in a one-off game against a top international side. It could scarcely be more exciting!

Peter Bosz had to reshuffle his central midfield due to the suspension of Charles Aránguiz following the 1-0 win against Rangers. Julian Baumgartlinger and Kerem Demirbay (back from suspension) came into the starting eleven with Florian Wirtz dropping down to the bench. He sat alongside Nadiem Amiri, Karim Bellarabi and Mitchell Weiser who missed out against Rangers for different reasons.

The Werkself coach was forced to make a third change late on: With half an hour to go before kick-off it was clear: Sven Bender, who was named in the starting line-up, had to drop out due to muscular problems. He was replaced in central defence by Jonathan Tah.

Defences dominate - then Barella scores

The late replacement was quickly up to speed: Tah first won an important challenge with Lautaro Martinez in typical fashion (5') and then he cleared a dangerous cross aimed for Lukaku (6'). Both defences dominated in the opening exchanges with the traditionally strong Inter back line preventing the Werkself from creating chances. It quickly became clear: It would need a lot of invention to breach that defensive stronghold. That led to numerous changes in position and attack with Kai Havertz, above all, popping up almost everywhere.

Bayer 04 struggled to get into the game in attack. Instead, it was the Italians who used their first goalscoring opportunity. Martinez started the move with a smart back heel and the ball ended up in the centre of the penalty area with Lukaku who used his full strength but there was good defensive work from Edmond Tapsoba and Daley Sinkgraven. The latter blocked a shot from the Belgian but the ball rebounded to Barella on the edge of the box. The midfielder took aim and struck the ball with the outside of his foot into the bottom left corner (15').

Lukaku makes it 2-0

That goal saw Inter clearly take the upper hand and Barella had the next good chance after impressive work from Martinez but Tah was in the right spot to block the effort (20'). But it was 2-0 a few moments later – and Lukaku again showed his full strength. The Belgian star striker received the ball in the penalty area with his back to goal, blocked off Tapsoba and forced the ball over the line as he fell (21'). Undoubtedly an impressive strike from Lukaku – albeit debatable as the striker had hold of Tapsoba's shirt. However, VAR did not intervene and the score remained 2-0.

Hradecky outstanding – Havertz has the right response

It was all running like clockwork for Inter and the Werkself could count themselves lucky to have such a great keeper as Lucas Hradecky between the sticks: The Werkself keeper pulled off a brilliant save in a one-on-one with Lukaku (23'). A really important save as seconds later it was 2-1 instead of 3-0. Moussa Diaby produced a great sprint down the left, Kai Havertz played a brilliant one-two with Kevin Volland in the penalty area – and then the Werkself midfielder fired the ball into the back of the net through the legs of Samir Handanovic (24').

VAR rescinds penalty – Werkself back in the game

That was not the end of the story in a wild first 30 minutes: After a challenge involving Danilo d'Ambrosio and Sinkgraven in the Werkself box, referee del Cerro Grande pointed to the penalty spot to the dismay of the Black and Reds. Lukaku was ready to take the spot kick when VAR intervened and the Spanish referee came to the right conclusion after visiting the review area: No penalty as the Werkself left back clearly pulled his arm away from the ball (28').

The match settled down after that and Bayer 04 came into the game. Above all, Diaby was effective down the left flank. The first cross from the Frenchman came to Kevin Volland for a half chance (34'), and Handanovic punched away another corner (38').

Werkself get stuck in – Bailey comes on

Bayer 04 again had to prevent conceding a third goal after the restart: Roberto Gagliardini hit Lukaku with a shot from a good position in the box (50'), Hradecky cleared a dangerous Martinez cross (52') and, shortly after that, Tapsoba successfully kept out Gagliardini (54').

The Werkself really had to get stuck in during the second half and the greater commitment in challenges brought them more into the game. After a nice move down the left, Demirbay was unable to find anybody in the middle (58'). Peter Bosz then made his first change bringing on Leon Bailey in place of Exequiel Palacios (59'). The match became increasingly more open and Bayer 04 became more and more dangerous up front: Demirbay tested Handanovic with a well-hit range effort (61').

Conte brings on Eriksen and Sánchez - Havertz goes close

And the same time, the outstanding individual quality of the opponents from Italy was clear to see. In the middle of the second half, coach Antonio Conte brought on two top international players in the shape of Christian Eriksen and Alexis Sánchez. The Chilean Sánchez quickly had two good opportunities at the end of impressive moves. He was first kept out by Hradecky (66') and his next shot was blocked by the Werkself defence (67'). The introduction of the two attacking players saw Inter move the ball better and the Nerazzurri had other decent chances through Marcelo Brozovic (75') and substitute Victor Moses (76').

Bayer 04, now clearly attempting to get onto the front foot, succeeded in building up more pressure. Leon Bailey sent in a dangerous cross that both Havertz and Volland just failed to connect with (79'). Peter Bosz then threw caution to the wind as he threw one attacking player after the next into the game: After Amiri (for Baumgartlinger) and Wendell (Sinkgraven), Karim Bellarabi and Lucas Alario replaced Lars Bender and Volland respectively in the closing stages.

No joy in closing stages

And there was to be quite a long the final phase of the game: The fourth official showed six minutes of added time with the first two not played at all: Again del Cerro Grande awarded a penalty to Inter for a challenge on Eriksen by Bellarabi – and once more he rescinded the decision this time due to a handball in the build-up. Bayer 04 threw everything up front and in the final minute Hradecky went up for a free kick. However, the big chance to level the scores did not come.

That means the Werkself go out of the competition at the end of an intensive European campaign with lots of high quality clashes. At the same time, probably the longest season in the history of Bayer 04 comes to an end – exactly one year to the day after the first match, the 4-1 win in the DFB Cup at Alemannia Aachen.

Match stats:

Inter Milan:Handanovic - Godin, de Vrij, Bastoni (Skriniar 84’) - Brozovic - d'Ambrosio (Moses 59’), Barella, Gagliardini (Eriksen 59’), Young - Lukaku, Martinez (Sánchez 64’)

Bayer 04: Hradecky – L. Bender (Bellarabi 85’), Tah, Tapsoba, Sinkgraven (Wendell 68’) – Palacios (Bailey 59’), Baumgartlinger (Amiri 68’), Demirbay – Havertz, Volland (Alario 85’), Diaby

Goals: 1-0 Barella (15’), 2-0 Lukaku (21’), 2-1 Havertz (24’)

Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)

Booked: d'Ambrosio, Inter coach Conte, Eriksen, Barella - Sinkgraven, L. Bender, Tapsoba