12.
18:42
Good corner from Gladbach! At the first post, Itakura extends to the second post. Then Čvančara runs in, but is irritated by Arthur’s air gap. The ball bounces off his leg to the left.
10.
6:40 p.m
Grimaldo crosses from the right side to the second post. Schick breaks away a bit, but can only let the ball slide over the top of the ball and into the net.
8.
6:38 p.m
Alonso initially sent a chain of four onto the field. That was resolved with the substitution of Terrier. With Hincapié there is now a three-man chain again.
8.
6:38 p.m
Substitution at Bayer Leverkusen: Piero Hincapié
8.
6:37 p.m
Substitution at Bayer Leverkusen: Martin Terrier
7.
6:37 p.m
Immediately after the action, Terrier sits down on the floor. When he started, the Frenchman got stuck in the grass and apparently injured himself more seriously. He limps off the field, supported by two supervisors.
5.
6:35 p.m
Suddenly Schick rushes past the lead! Terrier hits a half-high cross in front of the goal, which the Czech narrowly misses. Nicolas still has to be careful at the back because the cross threatens to jump into the far corner. He scratches the leather out with his fingertips!
3.
18:34
That’s not much, if you want to put it so bluntly. So far, Gladbach has defended quite resolutely, not falling back too far, but not pressing too hard either. This means they keep the game in midfield.
1.
6:30 p.m
Borussia from Mönchengladbach kicks off. The ball rolls in Leverkusen. And off we go!
1.
6:30 p.m
Game start
18:27
Both teams step out onto the BayArena pitch in freezing temperatures and yet a fantastic atmosphere. It won’t be long now!
18:21
Today Harm Osmers from Bremen is allowed to lead the game. For the internationally experienced referee, it is the first game involving Leverkusen since he was at the championship celebrations against Werder Bremen. Today Dominik Schaal and Stefan Lupp are assisting him with the flags in their hands.
6:14 p.m
Gerardo Seoane is also changing to four positions, but this probably has to do with his performance during the week. After the 5-1 thrashing at VfL Wolfsburg, Luca Netz, Joe Scally, Kevin Stöger and Alassane Pléa have to watch from the sidelines. Stefan Lainer, Lukas Ullrich, Philipp Sander and Tim Kleindienst are allowed to start. The latter was recently canceled due to stomach flu.
6:06 p.m
Xabi Alonso is rotating happily at the end of this English week. Matěj Kovář, Piero Hincapié, Nordi Mukiele, Jeremie Frimpong, Aleix García and Exequiel Palacios have to warm the bench first. Lukáš Hrádecký, Arthur Augusto, Álex Grimaldo, Robert Andrich, Martin Terrier, Nathan Tella will start. However, an axis runs from the back to the front. Tah and Tapsoba regulate the defense, Xhaka organizes the midfield, Wirtz initiates the attacks and Schick finishes.
5:57 p.m
Last August, Gladbach came damn close to a little surprise. Leverkusen, who had been practically invincible until then, took a 2-0 lead through Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz, but Nico Elvedi and Tim Kleindienst struck back in the second half. There shouldn’t have been much time left after that, but Robert Schröder gave ten minutes of added time in which the Werkself won a penalty. Wirtz scored in the follow-up and secured an extremely fortunate victory.
5:47 p.m
On the other hand, Borussia Mönchengladbach has to be careful not to lose touch with the top team. After two defeats at the start of the year, the foals are only eleventh in the table. There isn’t a lot of pressure coming from behind yet, but why not build up the pressure yourself? After all, a win would not only send an exclamation mark to the competition, but would also move within one point of the international ranks.
5:41 p.m
The race to catch up is in full swing. Bayer Leverkusen has already been able to put pressure on Bayern twice this year, and the record champions parried twice. Today the Munich team were able to demonstrate, winning against VfL Wolfsburg, and so now the Rhinelanders have to follow suit. In the event of a defeat, the gap to the league leaders is already seven points, and Eintracht Frankfurt is also pushing from behind. So a win would be important.
5:32 p.m
Rhine derby in the top game! Double winner Bayer 04 Leverkusen welcomes Borussia Mönchengladbach at 6:30 p.m. Welcome!