Bayer Leverkusen’s crisis continues in the Champions League. Coach Seoane’s team lost to Porto on a pitch-black night. Two VAR assignments caused a roller coaster ride for Leverkusen.
On Tuesday evening (October 4th, 2022) Leverkusen had to admit defeat to the Portuguese top club 0: 2 (0: 0). The goals for the simply more effective and later also dominant FC Porto came from Zaidu Sanusi (69th) and Galeno (87th). Leverkusen ended the game with ten men because Jeremie Frimpong had to leave the field with a yellow card (88′).
Hudson-Odoi called off for Andrich’s foul
At the start, Leverkusen tried to gain self-confidence through phases of possession. When it came to going forward, it was through Moussa Diaby and Callum Hudson-Odoi as fast attacking forces.
How the offensive game at Leverkusen can work to perfection was shown very early on: Robert Andrich conquered the ball, took Diaby with him, got it again and put Hudson-Odoi in the limelight. The latter converted confidently. The catch: After a VAR check, a foul was recognized when Andrich won the ball on Pepê, the goal didn’t count (17th).
Not too much happened playfully. Porto remained harmless for a long time, only Mateus Uribe’s long-range shot put Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky to the test (40′).
Second VAR check: Leverkusen roller coaster of emotions
And then referee Anthony Taylor and his video assistant Stuart Attwell (England) had their hands full.
One after the other: FC Porto first celebrated because Mehdi Taremi had scored after a counterattack to put the hosts ahead (42′). But the counter-attack was preceded by a handball by David Carmo in his own sixteen – instead of a goal for Porto, Leverkusen got a penalty after intervention by VAR.
That led to cheers from the away fans, who only had to watch a little later as striker Patrik Schick missed the penalty (45th). Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa sensed the corner and caused a real emotional roller coaster ride for Leverkusen.
Physical fighting game in Porto after the restart
The flow of the game didn’t really materialize in the second half. It became more physical, sometimes rough. Uribe saw the third yellow card after the restart after a rude entry. João Mário (50′) as well as Frimpong (53′) and Andrich (56′) had previously been booked.
Sanusi seals the black evening in Leverkusen
The “Werkself”, who looked dazed after going behind, hardly made any impact in terms of play. Instead, Porto whirled offensively with more self-confidence. An excellent attack on the left of Leverkusen ended after Taremi’s cross at Sanusi, who didn’t give Hradecky a chance.
He sealed the black evening in Leverkusen, the Seoane team couldn’t think of anything after that. Instead, Galeno put the lid on it. To make matters worse, Leverkusen’s Frimpong also saw yellow-red for his second harder foul.
Crisis duel with Schalke 04 is coming up
Bayer 04 don’t have much time to breathe. In the Bundesliga, Leverkusen welcome FC Schalke 04 to a crisis duel on Saturday (3:30 p.m.).