“Foals” annoy the Werkself: Bayer’s attack against Gladbach was fruitless

Bundesliga table leaders Bayer Leverkusen gave up in the title fight against Borussia Mönchengladbach and couldn’t get past draw out.

Leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen lost points in the fight for the championship against Borussia Mönchengladbach and did not gain any new points Last minute-Victory achieved. In the so-called small Rhine derby on Saturday evening (January 27th, 2024), the Werkself couldn’t get past a 0-0 draw.

Bayer has now been unbeaten in 28 competitive games in a row, but is now only two points ahead of rivals Bayern Munich and failed to score in a competitive game for the first time this season. Despite their respectable success, Gladbach is stagnating in the no man’s land of the table.

VfL coach Seoane: “Discipline and solidarity”

Mönchengladbach’s coach Gerardo Seoane was happy at the sports show microphone after the end of the game: “We chose a certain style of play in order to keep the result open for as long as possible. First and foremost, we wanted to keep the spaces very narrow and we did that very well.” He saw, among other things, the key to respectable success “Discipline and solidarity” his players.

Surprising goalkeeper change at Bayer

Bayer coach had a surprise Xabi Alonso put league regular goalkeeper and captain Lukas Hradecky on the bench for the first time and the Czech started for him Matej Kovar. The 23-year-old was available for around five million euros at the start of the season Manchester United switched to the Werkself. So far he has been used in the first five EuropeanLeague-Played and came twice in the DFB Cup. It was just a decision for the Gladbach game, said Alonso, Kovar should get match practice for the cup game against VfB Stuttgart on February 6th.

The Werkself took command right from the kick-off, tied up the “foals” and once again showed their combination game that was worth seeing. Nadiem Amiri (5th) fired the first warning shot on the right edge of the penalty area, VfL goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas just got his arms up and parried for a corner.

Bayer initially strongly considered

These numbers also show how Leverkusen got started: 84 percent ball possession and 121 passes in the first eight minutes. Bayer continued to be overwhelmingly superior and the lead seemed to be only a matter of time. A long-range shot from Florian Wirtz (19th) just missed the left post.

With the first dangerous counterattack, Gladbach suddenly had the chance to take the lead, Luca Netz (22nd) failed with his shot in the penalty area Kovar. Then there was a fire again in the VfL penalty area after a bad pass. After a pass from Patrik Schick, Wirtz (23′) only had to push in from eight meters and Nicolas parried his shot from the middle with his legs.

As the game went on, the “Foals” found their way into the game better, showed team spirit, defended self-sacrificingly and took on the game. Bayer had to accept the accusation of not acting consistently enough in front of the goal. So we went into the break without a goal.

Leverkusen Opportunity Festival

Would Bayer make things exciting again like they did Last minute-Did you recently win in Leipzig (3:2) and Augsburg (1:0)? The Werkself wanted to prevent that and turned up the heat. During a counterattack, Jeremie Frimpong (57th) was sent steeply by Wirtz, the Dutchman shot the ball just past Nicolas from a half-left position to the right. Three minutes later, Alex Grimaldo narrowly missed from 13 meters. Immediately afterwards, Frimpong marched alone towards the Gladbach goal, Florian Neuhaus spied the ball from his foot at the last moment.

Bayer tried everything, attack after attack rolled towards the Gladbach goal. But as the game went on, the impression became more and more solid that this time it wouldn’t work again Last minute-Triumph. Gladbach’s defense fought with all its might against Leverkusen’s attack and was rewarded with a point in the end.

Bayer has replacement for injured Boniface

Bayer had more success in the transfer market this Saturday than on the pitch. After the end of the game, the club announced that it had found a replacement for striker Victor, who was injured until March Boniface. This is the 31-year-old center forward Borja Iglesiaswho is on loan from Betis until the summer Seville comes.

Bayer in Darmstadt, “Foals” against FC Bayern

The Werkself travel to Darmstadt next weekend (Saturday, February 3rd, 2023 at 3:30 p.m.). At the same time, Gladbach is challenged in Munich.