Bayer 04 Leverkusen narrowly lost the round of 16 first leg in the Europa League at Atalanta. But in the meantime it looked like a debacle, so the Werkself still have every chance in the second leg.
A wild game in Bergamo, with a better ending for Atalanta. Bayer Leverkusen may have lost the round of 16 first leg in Italy 2-3, but still have every chance of reaching the quarter-finals. In the meantime, Atalanta had led 3-1 and lost a number of chances for a higher lead. Moussa Diaby scored from nowhere for Bayer to make it 2:3 – and thus kept Bayer in the game for progress.
Things had actually started well for the Bundesliga team: Charles Aránguiz scored early (11th minute) after hitting the inside of the post with an excellent free kick.
But the early goal did not ensure stability for the Seoane team – on the contrary. The former team of national player Robin Gosens combined into the game and turned the game around within three minutes through Ruslan Malinovskyi (23rd) and Luis Muriel (25th). It was 2-1 at the end of the break.
After the change of sides, the Italians got off to a better start – and increased again to 3:1 (49th) through Muriel. As a result, the hosts missed a number of chances, failed several times due to their own inability and the good mood of Bayer keeper Lukas Hradecky.
Instead of a higher lead, Diaby brought Bayer back into play with a nice one-off (63′). In the second leg, Leverkusen has the chance to at least reach extra time with a narrow win. The Werkself would need two goals to progress after 90 minutes. The away goals rule was abolished at the start of the current season.