Thanks to a strong Mark Flekken and super joker Patrik Schick, Bayer Leverkusen achieved their immensely important first victory in the Champions League.
The efficient Werkself won 1-0 (0-0) at Benfica Lisbon under star coach José Mourinho and is now on course for the play-offs with five points from four games.
Schick (65th), who had come on as a substitute eight minutes earlier, scored the victory for the Werkself after a mistake by the Benfica defense, who were able to thank their outstanding goalkeeper Flekken – and two weeks after the 7-2 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain, they were lucky with two goals scored by the Portuguese record champions.
“I’m very happy that we won. That was very important for us,” said match winner Schick on “DAZN”: “The victory helped us a lot for the team spirit. We have to keep going like this.” Before the extremely difficult away game at Manchester City at the end of November, Bayer gained important breathing room in the fight for the knockout phase.
Benfica misses opportunities
Four days after the well-deserved 3-0 defeat at FC Bayern, coach Kasper Hjulmand had to do without his red-suspended captain Robert Andrich for the “very difficult task” in Lisbon. Ibrahim Maza started in the double six for the Werkself, which was struggling with personnel.
And the 19-year-old had to do well from the start, Benfica pushed Bayer into their own half – and missed the early lead: The fast ex-Bundesliga professional Dodi Lukebakio ran towards Flekken from a tight angle after a long ball and hit the crossbar (11th).
Bayer then worked their way into the game better and better through more possession of the ball without really becoming dangerous. Alejandro Grimaldo, as usual, often moved from the left-wing position to the attacking midfield against his former club, but was initially unable to make any impact. That’s what the hosts did in front of the Bayer goal: Ex-Mainz player Leandro Barreiro got stuck with his shot and Lukebakio’s follow-up shot ended up in the arms of Flekken (26′).
Bayer Leverkusen scores out of nowhere
And Benfica remained dangerous, Argentine world champion Nicolas Otamendi headed it onto the crossbar (33′). On the other side, Ernest Poku suddenly appeared in front of the goal after a beautiful pass, but missed miserably (36th) – the best chance for the German runner-up. A little later, Claudio Echeverri wasted a promising counterattack (39′). On the other side, Lukebakio once again missed the 1-0 lead in the duel with Flekken (43′).
Bayer also struggled at the start of the second half and Benfica pressed for the lead. The outstanding Flekken saved with his foot against Evangelos Pavlidis (47th).
Bayer then took the lead out of nowhere: Grimaldo sent Schick strong, but the Czech was initially denied by Anatolij Trubin. Benfica’s Samuel Dahl headed the rebound back to Schick, who this time stayed cool. Bayer then defended their lead passionately.