Head coach Gerardo Seoane made three changes to his starting eleven from the 2-0 defeat against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga: Robert Andrich, Moussa Diaby and Paulinho started in place of Mitchel Bakker (ankle injury), Exequiel Palacios and Lucas Alario (both on the bench).
"Everyone knows what’s happened in recent weeks," said Andrich ahead of the match and added: "We are now even more focused on working, above all, on the basics." The midfielder was true to his words as the Werkself were alert from the start, very compact in defence and succeeded in frustrating the visitors. The first promising signs up front came from Paulinho (7'), Florian Wirtz (8') and Diaby (13') but their finishing lacked accuracy
Amine Adli went one better: After Andrich played the ball through, the Frenchman cut into the penalty area from the right flank and he tried to curl the ball into the far corner. The Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva was beaten but Marc Bartra was able to clear off the line – that was the best chance for the Black and Reds up to that point (20'). There was great celebration at the BayArena four minutes later when Jeremie Frimpong slipped the ball past the Betis keeper into the net at the end of a wonderful passing move. However, the full-back was in an offside position so the goal was rightly ruled out by VAR.
And the Andalusians? In the first half they were almost exclusively focused on defending as the Seoane team were clearly the more dominant side who offered the Green and Whites little room for manoeuvre. Nabil Fekir did have a shot on Lukas Hradecky's goal on 35 minutes but the Bayer 04 captain pulled off a great save. The Werkself were convincing in all aspects with a courageous performance and they continued to press for the opening goal. Those efforts were finally rewarded just before half-time: Wirtz lifted the ball into the penalty area from the left to the unmarked Diaby who fired a volley into the back of the net from eleven yards out (42'). The Black and Reds took a deserved lead into the half-time break.
There was an extremely lively start to the second 45: First, Edmond Tapsoba pulled off a brilliant tackle to deny Borja Iglesias and, at the other end of the pitch, Demirbay tested Rui Silva with a long-range effort (50'). The ball was again in the visitors net a few minutes later: A shot from Wirtz saw the ball end up with Diaby on the edge of the penalty area and he hit it into the top right corner – the Real Betis defender Viktor Ruiz deflected the shot leaving Rui Silva helpless (52'). Youngster Adli played a big part in this goal with his untiring resolve in the build-up.
The Werkself were lucky on 67 minutes: Fekir hit a free kick from 20 yards out against the bar. The effort from the midfield maestro was the last meaningful effort from the Green and Whites as Jonathan Tah and Co. succeeded in keeping the opponents away from their penalty area after that. Up front, Wirtz sealed the victory shortly before the final whistle: The attacker converted a wonderful pass from Diaby to make it 3-0 (86'). Substitute Nadiem Amiri also got on the scoresheet with the score at 4-0 (90') again after impressive work from Diaby who was undoubtedly the man of the match. Bayer 04 are back to winning ways after four games without a win and have taken a big step towards winning the group.
There was a really unnecessary incident just before the final whistle when referee Anthony Taylor twice showed the red card at the end of a generally fairly fought encounter: Fekir grabbed Demirbay by the ear and it looked as if he wanted to take it back to Seville as a souvenir. The Leverkusen number ten retaliated by grabbing the Frenchman’s face. A mass confrontation ensued and ended with the referee sending off the two main culprits.
The Werkself are back in action in the capital on Sunday, 7 November (kick-off: 15.30 CET). Diaby and Co. are away to Hertha Berlin. That is followed by the next international break.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Frimpong (Kossounou 87'), Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie (Sinkgraven 77') – Andrich, Demirbay – Adli (Amiri 77'), Wirtz (Retsos 87'), Diaby – Paulinho (Palacios 68').
Real Betis: Rui Silva – Bellerin, Bartra, Ruiz, Miranda (Moreno 46') – Rodriguez, Carvalho (Canales 46') – Joaquin (Juanmi 79’), Fekir, Ruibal (Rodri 28’) – Borja Iglesias (Willian Jose 71’).
Goals: 1-0 Diaby (42’), 2-0 Diaby (52’), 3-0 Wirtz (86’), 4-0 Amiri (90’)
Booked: Adli, Andrich
Sent off: Demirbay – Fekir
Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)
Attendance: 15,208
The Bayer 04 women’s team secured a win in the friendly during the international break. Without a total of eight international players, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team defeated Bundesliga 2 side Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 at the Kurtekotten Training Centre, thanks to goals from Lobke Loonen (1’, penalty), Caroline Kehrer (41') and Valentina Mädl (66').
Show more
Bayer 04 will have to manage without striker Christian Kofane in the coming weeks. The 20-year-old sustained a muscle injury to his left thigh on international duty with the Cameroon national team during the recent international break. This will prevent him from playing in the upcoming Werkself matches.
Show more
FSV Mainz 05 went into the international break on the back of an away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Currently sixth in the table, the Rheinhessen side – who have been impressive on the road – now aim to continue their good start to the Bundesliga campaign at home when they face the Werkself on Saturday, 10 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). In terms of squad selection, Urs Fischer once again has more options at his disposal. Up front, the Mainz coach is likely to continue relying on what is currently the league’s most successful strike partnership. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
Exciting experiences and exclusive insights into the Werkself and the BayArena awaited the young footballers from the BA04 Football Academy Guangzhou in China during their visit to the Rhineland this week. As well as taking part in a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy, the youngsters marvelled at the Bundesliga club’s stadium during a guided tour. The highlight of the visit was a private press conference with former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling, during which he shared tips from his own career with the young players. On Saturday afternoon, 10 October, the group will round off their visit by supporting the Werkself in the away match in Mainz.
Show more
Fans ask, Carolin Simon answers: As part of Bayer 04’s second Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, the Leverkusen captain took questions from the community. The full-back, who returned to the club this summer after ten years away, set aside an hour and a half for the Q&A session with fans, offering a very personal insight into, amongst other things, her daily life as a footballer and her role as captain, as well as her passion for Pokémon.
Show more
