New competition, old suffering: due to a fatal mishap by goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, Bayer Leverkusen also started the Champions League with an avoidable defeat.
The Werkself lost 1-0 (0-1) at Belgian champions FC Brugge and have now lost six of seven competitive games in all competitions. To make matters worse, two goals from Patrick Schick (73rd/77th) were disallowed on Wednesday for being offside.
Significant: Abakar Sylla (41′) made it 0-1, as so often in recent weeks, after a corner kick, although this time captain Hradecky looked anything but good. He was already sure of Sylla’s header, but fell into the goal with the caught ball. Little consolation for the Finn: UEFA did not count the goal as an own goal. In the group with Atlético Madrid and FC Porto, Leverkusen are already under a lot of pressure before the home game against the Spaniards next Tuesday.
Seoane is under pressure
After the end of the DFB Cup and the miserable start to the season in the Bundesliga, things are not getting any easier for coach Gerardo Seoane, even if sports director Simon Rolfes had recently given him a lot of support.
Leverkusen didn’t even think the match at the Jan Breydel Stadium was bad. The team coached by Gerardo Seoane was unusually deep and let the hosts have the ball. However, Bruges did not initially pose a real threat. On the contrary: Bayer striker Moussa Diaby (8th) had the first chance, after a nice solo shot from 16 meters. A little later, Bruges goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saved against the Frenchman in dire need and deflected another long-range shot (28th) to the post.
So things were going well for Bayer – until Hradecky’s unsuccessful rescue attempt gave the hosts the lead. As in the weeks before, Seoane’s team didn’t really have that much to blame, apart from their own negligence. New signing Callum Hudson-Odoi also did well in his starting XI debut and enlivened the game, but the Englishman did not score a goal either. This pattern, which is not new, was also evident in Belgium: Bayer made far too little of their chances. Schick, Diaby, Hudson-Odoi and Jeremie Frimpong all had no luck.
Hudson-Odoi on the ten
The tactical change at half-time didn’t change that. After the break, Seoane played with a back four and Hudson-Odoi on the ten, which at least changed the game’s statics. Bayer now dominated the ball, Bruges stood deep and managed the lead. Seoane also added personnel and brought in new offensive players such as Adam Hlozek and Kerem Demirbay.
But that had no effect either. Leverkusen only had hope for a short time when Schick (73′) headed into the goal after a cross. Because Jonathan Tah had previously pushed his opponent from offside, the goal was disallowed after viewing the video images. Shortly thereafter, Schick scored again, but was ruled offside. Again the VAR took the goal back.