Bayer Leverkusen secures group victory – Eintracht Frankfurt has no chance of a direct place in the round of 16

Boniface and Joker Schick meet

And then Patrik Schick also scored: Bayer Leverkusen is in a class of its own in Europe this season and is now the best team in the Europa League. After the 2-0 (1-0) win against Swedish cup winners BK Häcken, coach Xabi Alonso’s team secured early group victory with a B-eleven that was changed to eight positions after advancing. This ensures direct entry into the round of 16 without having to go through the play-offs against a relegated team from the Champions League.

A particularly nice moment was the goal from striker Schick, who after a long period of suffering scored his first goal in 284 days (74th). Victor Boniface took the lead (14th). Bayer is the only team among the 32 participants to have won all five group games. In addition, last year’s semi-finalists celebrated five European Cup victories in a row for the first time in almost 30 years, and there have never been more. Thursday’s success was the 18th in the 19th competitive game of the season. The groundbreaking home game against Borussia Dortmund is scheduled for Sunday in the Bundesliga. The runner-up is currently ten points behind the “Werkself”.

Bayer had the game under control with over 60 percent possession and took advantage of their first chance. After a cross from Bayern loanee Josip Stanisic, Boniface headed in at the far post from four meters. In the Bundesliga, the Nigerian, who was top scorer in the Europa League in the Saint-Gilles jersey last season, has not scored in five games or 449 minutes. In his favorite competition he has now scored in four of five games.

As a result, the Bundesliga team did not shine by any means, only had one chance before the break through Nathan Tella (22nd) and even almost equalized after an uncertainty from Matej Kovar, who replaced regular goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky in every game in the European Cup as before conceded (34th). “We play seriously, but the Swedes also do it well,” said club boss Fernando Carro during the break on “RTL”.

Alonso continued to distribute match practice. He brought on 18-year-old Noah Mbamba for Boniface at the break or Schick in the 63rd minute, who made the decision again eleven minutes later on an assist from Stanisic.

Eintracht Frankfurt lost their last chance to win the group

Eintracht Frankfurt no longer has a chance of making it directly to the round of 16 in the Conference League. The Hessians lost their home game on Thursday against PAOK Saloniki 1:2 (0:0). With a four point deficit to the Greek first division team and one game still to play, Eintracht can no longer win the group, which would automatically qualify them for the round of 16. The club has already qualified for the playoff round.

Omar Marmoush (58th minute) scored the equalizer, while Tomasz Kedziora (55th) and Andrija Zivkovic (73rd) scored for the guests. In stoppage time, Frankfurt’s Kristijan Jakic was shown a yellow-red card (90+4).

To home page