U19s lose 1-0 to unbeaten Inter Milan

Head coach Sergi Runge made one change to his starting line-up compared with the 1-0 defeat against FC Salzburg in the preceding Youth League game: Ben Hawighorst replaced Akim Kister at left-back. The first attack for the home side came after three minutes down the right flank but the shot from Kerim Alajbegovic was deflected. The same happened at the other end of the pitch a minute later with an effort from Inter Milan player Matteo Lavelli.

evenly balance first half with no goals

There was end-to-end action in the opening stages with the next – extremely promising – opportunity for Jeremiah Mensah who shot just wide of the target (8'). The game settled down after that before Lavelli hit the outside of the post for the Nerazzurri (22'). It was a competitive encounter against the unbeaten group leaders but there were no other big chances before half-time. The two sides went into the break with the scoreline at 0-0.

Inter go ahead - Bayer 04 miss chance to level

The second half started with the Italians making one change. Inter's Matteo Motta tested Jesper Schlich with a powerful long-range effort but the Bayer 04 keeper made an impressive save (54'). The next shot ten minutes later went in: Mattia Zanchetta fired a volley into the bottom right corner of the net to give Inter Milan the lead at 1-0 (54'). The Leverkusen youngsters did not give up with good actions coming from Emmanuel Owen (70’) and Ben Hawighorst (78’). Owen just failed to connect with the cross on 84 minutes. The Werkself gave their all right to the end but were unable to score the equaliser.

The Bayer 04 U19 team, currently in 23rd place on seven points, have a slight hope of progress. The first 22 teams in the table during the league phase go through to the knockout rounds in the Youth League but moving up requires several suitable results from elsewhere in the upcoming matches.

"It was an evenly balanced game for most of the time and a draw would have been a fair result," said Runge looking back at the 90 minutes of the game. The Spaniard said about the position in the table: "It's fair to assume we will just miss out on going through. Of course, we are very unlucky but we can't be too hard on ourselves. We played against very strong opponents and invested everything in every game. I'm proud of the lads for the way they've performed. It was a great experience for all of them and it will help them in their development."

outlook: last competitive match of the year

The Youth League game was the last competitive match of the year for the Bayer 04 U19 team. In 2025, the action will be at a national level in League A in the main round of the DFB Youth league. The opponents for the oldest Leverkusen junior side remain to be confirmed.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Schlich - Raterink (Eichie 89'), Ndi, Natali, Hawighorst - Pohl, Buono - Owen, J. Mensah, Alajbegovic - Szep (Ferati 89')

Inter Milan: Taho - Della Mora, Kangasniemi, Maye, Motta (Alexiou 58') - Venturini (Zarate 46'), Zanchetta, Topalovic (Tigani 58') - Zouin (Spinacce 87'), Lavelli, Quieto (Vanzulli 69')

Goals: 0-1 Zanchetta (63’)

Yellow cards: Hawighorst - Zouin, Topalovic, Maye, Tigani, Zanchetta

Referee: Mikkel Redder (Denmark)

Attendance: 611 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium