45
20:18
Mid-term conclusion:
It’s goalless in the cabins of the Volkswagen Arena. In the first twenty minutes, both teams acted cautiously and showed little determination in the game. But then the game picked up speed and we saw chances for both sides. Azmoun, who hit the crossbar with his deflected shot, had the best opportunity. Leverkusen had slightly better chances and were a little closer to scoring the first goal than VfL. To be continued soon!
45
20:15
End of 1st half
44
20:14
The Werkself are now closer to the first goal than VfL. Xabi Alonso’s team has the better chances and keeps playing into the danger zone, especially down the right flank.
41
20:12
Amiri from a distance! The 26-year-old pulls from the left-hand position. The ball rushes a few centimeters over the crossbar.
40
20:10
Casteels wide awake! Frimpong has plenty of space on the right side and crosses the ball sharply in front of the goal. The Belgian goalkeeper comes out of his box and confidently picks the ball out of the air.
38
20:08
While Wolfsburg couldn’t get two shots on goal, Leverkusen managed at least one of three attempts on goal.
35
20:06
Hložek pulls inwards from the left wing and takes a shot from the inside left of the edge of the box. The ball rushes just past the left post.
34
20:05
Yannick Gerhardt with a head! Paulo Otávio conquered the ball on the left edge of the box against Frimpong and found the 29-year-old in the middle. The midfielder heads the thing over from five meters and a central position!
33
20:03
The game is picking up pace and becoming more and more entertaining. Both teams play a little more purposefully forward than in the early stages.
30
20:00
Kaminsky! Paulo Otávio’s long cross from the left finds the 20-year-old Pole in the penalty area on the right. His shot from about eleven meters is deflected to the corner. It brings nothing.
28
19:59
Bar! Diaby sends Frimpong up the right flank and he finds Azmoun with a precise cross. He tries a volley. The ball is deflected, hits the crossbar and VfL clears it. The goal wouldn’t have counted, however, because Frimpong had previously been flagged for offside.
26
19:57
After winning the ball in their own half, Bayer switches quickly. Azmoun gets a great through ball and puts it back to Diaby near the right edge of the box. He doesn’t hesitate and pulls straight away. Guilavogui blocks the ball and Wolfsburg can clarify.
24
19:55
The guests have a little more of the game with ball possession of 53 percent, but Bayer are not yet dangerous in front of the goal. Both teams lack movement and determination in the game going forward.
21
19:52
Hložek steals the ball from Gerhardt in the Wolfsburg half and then pushes the pace. Bornauw holds the Czech near the center line and brings him down. The referee leaves it at a warning. He could have pulled out the yellow card.
19
19:49
Strongly clarified by Kossounou. Marmoush wants to march past the Leverkusen defender in midfield in front of the coaching benches, but he puts his body into it and conquers the ball.
17
19:47
We’re still waiting for the game’s first chance to score. The two lines of defense have not let anything burn so far and are well organized.
14
19:45
Guilavogui blocks Frimpong’s cross from the right to the corner. It comes halfway up and poses no danger at all for VfL.
13.
19:44
Diaby is sent off with a long ball from defence. The fast Frenchman brings him under control on the left side of the penalty area, but then the assistant’s flag goes up. The 23-year-old was a hair’s breadth offside.
11.
19:42
Paulo Otávio has some space on the left and puts the ball low in the box. But Kossounou is spot on there and can intercept the ball.
9.
19:39
So far, large parts of the game have been played between the penalty areas. Both teams try to control the game with the ball without taking the big risk in the game going forward.
6.
19:35
Coach Niko Kovač’s team starts boldly and sometimes uses high, aggressive pressing. The hosts want to directly prevent a clean build-up of play by Leverkusen.
4.
19:34
First corner kick for the wolves. Gerhardt gets the ball high in the center where Bornauw rises but only slightly extends the ball with his head. Leverkusen can then clarify.
3.
19:33
Andrich gets the ball in his own penalty area, puts it a little too far in front of himself and then the wind brings him down. The referee whistles the free kick for Bayer.
1.
19:30
The ball rolls!
1.
19:30
game start
19:29
The two teams enter the lawn. You can start in a few moments!
19:22
In the first leg at the BayArena, the two teams drew 2-2 in an extremely entertaining game. After Diaby missed a penalty early on, he did better a few minutes later and put Leverkusen in front. VfL benefited from an own goal by Andrich in the first half and thus equalized. Arnold’s opening goal for the wolves was equalized by Frimpong with a quarter of an hour before the end.
19:14
Bayer’s coach Xabi Alonso starts the rotation machine after the Europa League game against Union Saint-Gilloise. Kossounou, Demirbay, Amiri, Hložek and Azmoun replace Bakker, Tah, Palacios, Adli and Wirtz.
19:08
Niko Kovač makes three changes to the starting XI compared to the 2-0 defeat in Mönchengladbach. Sebastiaan Bornauw, Josuha Guilavogui and Jonas Wind start for Maxence Lacroix, Kilian Fischer and Maximilian Arnold.
19:02
The Werkself from Leverkusen have been unbeaten for ten competitive games. Before the 1-1 midweek win against Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League quarter-finals, there were seven competitive wins in a row. This catapulted Xabi Alonso’s team to sixth place.
18:57
One win from the last five games – that’s the not really satisfactory record of the wolves. Most recently, it was a 2-0 defeat at the ailing Borussia from Mönchengladbach. Niko Kovač’s team is struggling, especially in their own stadium, and their last home win so far was in January when they beat Freiburg 6-0.
18:50
Sixth against ninth – only four points separate the two clubs from Wolfsburg and Leverkusen in the table. While the strong Bavarian is still aiming for the Champions League places, Wolfsburg will try to reach the Europa League places at the end of the season.
18:39
Hello and welcome to the Volkswagen Arena for the 28th match day and the match between VfL Wolfsburg and Bayer 04 Leverkusen. It starts at 7:30 p.m.