Bayer Leverkusen secured their hibernation in the European Cup with a goalless draw against FC Brugge. This was made possible by Schützenhilfe from Porto.
For Bayer Leverkusen it was against FC Brugge the next attempt to overcome the crisis. In the previous Champions League game, thanks to a missed penalty in the final minute, there was a 2-2 draw at Atletico Madrid and hope for improvement – which in the league got a strong kink again due to the poor performance at 0-2 at RB Leipzig Has.
Coach Xabi Alonso therefore opted for changes, six new players moved into the starting XI, including Patrik Schick, who produced goals in a row last season but only scored three times in 16 games this season. The goal of the newly formed team: Points to still have a chance of staying third in Group B in the Europa League. Atletico Madrid were not allowed to win at FC Porto either.
Faulty play on both sides
However, there was very little of this to be seen on the pitch, instead the current uncertainty was noticeable. Bruges (certainly in the Round of 16 even before the game) combined quite easily through the Leverkusen ranks, but was a little too imprecise in the last third. The same applied to Bayer in almost all areas.
And yet the Bundesliga 16 had. the first good chance of the game. Moussa Diaby came on after a pass from Callum Hudson-Odoi, but Brugge keeper Simon Mignolet was able to parry (33′). This scene underlined that Leverkusen got into the game better as time went on and gained (ball) security.
A mistake of his own almost nullified the increase in performance. Exequiel Palacios lost the ball unnecessarily in defensive midfield and gave Kamal Sowah the first big chance for Brugge – which Lukas Hradecky was able to defuse (39′). On the other hand, Jeremie Frimpong should have taken the lead seconds before the half-time whistle, but only shot to the side netting (45+1).
Second half starts with two crossbar hits
Shortly after the break, Leverkusen got lucky. When the guests had a triple chance, Tajon Buchanan missed the narrowest of chances and hit the crossbar from a tight angle (46th). The ball also hit the crossbar on the other side after Mignolet had defused a header from Schick (55′).
As a result, however, the game tightened again. Leverkusen, perhaps with the certainty that a point would be enough for third place thanks to FC Porto’s comfortable lead over Atletico Madrid (2-0), avoided the risk, as did the Belgians. However, Bruges still had the opportunity to win the group with a win – so a final offensive was to be expected. And if they conceded, the European Cup season would have ended for Bayer.
However, neither happened. Leverkusen was able to keep their opponents in check in the last few minutes and survived the final phase unscathed. So there was no turning point in the Bayer crisis, but at least they reached third place in the group stage – and thus hibernated in the European Cup because Porto won 2-1. On February 16th and 23rd, Leverkusen will then play in the intermediate round of the Europa League for a place in the round of 16.