64′
16:53
Half-left in front of the penalty area, Hofmann and Grimaldo are again preparing the ball for a free kick. The Spaniard wants to circle the ball towards the goal, but the ball falls too late. While Rønnow hangs on the crossbar, the ball rushes over the goal.
64′
16:52
Substitution at 1. FC Union Berlin: Brenden Aaronson
64′
16:51
Substitution at 1. FC Union Berlin: Sheraldo Becker
62′
4:50 p.m
Hofmann gets applause from the scene by winning the ball during counter-pressing. Thanks to the assist for Kossounou, the boy already has ten scorers.
61′
16:49
The Werkself want to do this now. On the left of the five-pointer, however, Boniface rubs up against his guards.
58′
16:46
On the line, Roussillon prevents the 3-0! Before that, Boniface dribbles into the penalty area before passing it out to Frimprong on the right. His shot bounces off Rønnow’s extended right leg in a high arc before the rushing-back Roussillon can clear with his head over his own crossbar!
57′
16:44
Great for Bayer Leverkusen, 2-0 by Odilon Kossounou
That should annoy Union! Laïdouni hits the ball almost from the halfway line into his own goal and then complains to the referee for a long time because Boniface deflected the ball. As a result, there should never have been a corner. But Hofmann hits the head of Kossounou, who nods in at the second post!
55′
16:43
Fofana takes a corner against Koussounou. Trimmel hits the ball to the five-pointer, but Tah has the upper hand and clears it with his head.
53′
16:42
Laïdouni takes a shot from the second row and is slightly deflected by Fofana. Nevertheless, Lukáš Hrádecký stands well and secures the ball.
52′
16:41
At the moment it seems as if the Werkself’s greatest danger is that they put themselves to sleep in the ball possession game. A 2-0 would be very valuable for security.
50′
16:38
Xhaka fires a long-range shot that deflects off one leg and rolls out to the left for a corner. Hofmann prepares the ball at the corner flag, leads briefly with Grimaldo, but then loses the ball as he tries to move into the penalty area.
49′
16:37
The second round also starts quietly. This time Union had already had a longer period of possession until Rønnow had to hit the back. Now Leverkusen is building up again.
46′
16:34
Football god Trimmel should do it for Union. He comes on for Juranović. It is the guests’ second change after Knoche had to replace the injured Bonucci. The second half is underway!
46′
16:33
Substitution at 1. FC Union Berlin: Christopher Trimmel
46′
16:33
Substitution at 1. FC Union Berlin: Josip Juranović
46′
16:33
Kick-off of the 2nd half
45′+2
4:20 p.m
Half-time conclusion:
Everything is going according to plan for Bayer Leverkusen, who lead 1-0 against Union Berlin at the break. The only thing that the Werkself can still improve on is the exploitation of opportunities. Boniface had two good chances and Florian Wirtz was also denied by Frederik Rønnow from a good position. In return, Álex Grimaldo once again shot the ball into the opponent’s goal. On the other hand, almost nothing came from Union. The xGoals show a value of 0.05. That’s a single header that Haberer put into Hrádecký’s arms from a tight angle. More must come from Berlin!
45′+2
16:17
End of 1st half
45′+2
16:17
The last seconds of this half go to Union. But it won’t be really dangerous.
45′
16:16
Official injury time (minutes): 2
45′
16:16
Is this the moment? Wirtz drives the ball through the center, has teammates left and right, but Knoche takes him out of the game with a physical deception and then shoots himself. Rønnow barely scratches the low shot out of the right corner!
44′
4:15 p.m
On the other hand, Bayer 04 may have already switched to break mode. The flight to Azerbaijan was long, a lot of players had to go through and so we’re waiting for the right moment.
43′
16:14
Suddenly the Iron Ones switch gears. Becker sets off to the left and crosses towards Fofana. The thing is initially blocked with the head, but a second cross from Becker flies to the advanced Haberer, who is denied by Hrádecký from an acute angle. At least it’s a conclusion!
39′
4:10 p.m
A bit of calm returns because Leverkusen lets the ball and opponents run. In the end, Berlin benefits from a misunderstanding between Álex Grimaldo and Wirtz. The Spaniard passes the ball straight into the goal.
36′
16:07
Union just can’t find a trick. Even the few phases of possession immediately become hectic when it goes into the opponent’s half and the Werkself’s pressing takes effect.
35′
16:06
Frimpong again looks for Boniface, who is taking off, but with a tackle, Knoche sneaks the ball away!
32′
16:03
Outside the penalty area, Hrádecký clears the ball into touch and rushes back into the goal. The Finn has to sort of find the work himself because there haven’t been any shots yet.
30′
16:01
That has to be 2-0! Boniface is free to head towards goal from five meters, but the ball goes straight to Frederik Rønnow! The Dane saves with his stomach!
28′
3:59 p.m
Becker crosses the ball flat into the home team’s penalty area, but Kossounou clears it with a classic release.
26′
15:57
Leverkusen is in front of the goal again! Kossounou drives the ball, shields the ball superbly and only passes it to Frimpong on the right just before the penalty area. He turns to shoot, but fails at the bottom left of the goalkeeper’s leg!
25′
3:55 p.m
After the hit, Bonucci sits on the bench and holds the back of his thigh. Robin Knoche replaces the Italian.
24′
3:55 p.m
Substitution at 1. FC Union Berlin: Robin Knoche
24′
3:55 p.m
Substitution at 1. FC Union Berlin: Leonardo Bonucci
23′
15:53
Great for Bayer Leverkusen, 1-0 by Álex Grimaldo
Grimaldo opens the door! That’s disgusting! Wirtz briefly passes for the new Spanish international, who is not attacked for a moment. He then takes measurements from the left corner of the box and circles the ball over Rønnow, who has no chance, into the right angle! The next dream goal for Álex Grimaldo!
20′
15:51
The Werkself freed themselves from their own half in a clean manner, and at the same time the Iron team retreated. Leverkusen practically has to outplay two five-man chains here.
19′
3:50 p.m
The guests move up and push all Leverkusen players, except for Boniface, into their own half. That hasn’t happened that often so far.
17′
3:49 p.m
Suddenly Timo Gerach shows one Penalty because Jaeckel is said to have blocked the ball with his arms in the scene before. The repetition quickly shows that Jaeckel had his arms spread wide, but was able to block with his head. He collects accordingly VAR the decision.
16′
3:46 p.m
Tah gets a header! When taking a corner, the defender is completely free at the second post. At the last moment, Jaeckel jumps towards him with his arms spread out and blocks to the next corner.
15′
3:46 p.m
At the last moment, Laïdouni is there! Before that, Álex Grimaldo is sent to the baseline on the left, from which he plays into the backcourt. Boniface takes a shot when Laïdouni clears it centimeters in front of him!
12′
3:44 p.m
Suddenly Rønnow gives the ball away! When he tries to hit the ball directly, he hits Boniface’s feet. This time the striker shows an overview and passes it out to Wirtz on the left, but he dribbles past the goalkeeper who is storming out again. The ball bounces from Wirtz’s nimble legs into the goal.
11′
3:42 p.m
Next graduation for Boniface! This time he is served by Wirtz before he shoots just inside the penalty area. The leather rolls out to the right again. It’s not the striker’s game yet.
9′
3:40 p.m
With the long pass to Fofana, Hrádecký is challenged for the first time and intercepts the pass on the edge of the penalty area. Then you quickly go to the other side. Boniface has a lot of space, but takes a hasty shot a good 20 meters from the goal. Hofmann is annoyed when the ball rolls far to the right.
8th’
3:39 p.m
Boniface goes into a header duel against Jaeckel, but the Nigerian comes up short. Jaeckel gets to the ball in front of him and clears the ball at five.
7′
3:37 p.m
It’s the expected game from the start. The Berliners retreat far and let Leverkusen look for gaps. They would certainly like to do some counterattacks, but that hasn’t happened yet. It’s a quiet start.
4′
3:34 p.m
After an initial short execution, Álex Grimaldo hits the ball far towards the second post, but his teammate cannot reach the pass. Goal kick for Union.
2′
3:33 p.m
Rønnow is almost outplayed with a back pass from Jaeckel. With a tackle he clears the ball for a corner.
1′
3:31 p.m
The ball rolls in the BayArena. Leverkusen kicks off. Let’s go on a wild ride!
15:28
Under cloudy skies and the sun slowly setting, both teams step out onto the BayArena lawn. It will not be long!
15:21
Timo Gerach travels to Leverkusen in only his fifth Bundesliga appearance. The 36-year-old Landauer is assisted by linesmen Florian Heft and Dominik Schaal. The VAR, on the other hand, is led by the highly experienced Bastian Dankert.
15:13
The previous duels do not speak for the FCU. Union only celebrated one win in eleven duels against the Werkself. In the games at the BayArena, Leverkusen won four times and only drew two. Last season, B04 achieved the first real demonstration of Xabi Alonso’s football against Union. Interestingly, Leverkusen left the relegation places thanks to the 5-0 win, while Union had to give up their lead in the table. Is history repeating itself today?
3:05 p.m
With a view to the important game in Naples, Urs Fischer has little room for rotation. Only Rani Khedira is missing from the Iron team’s squad, but that’s because the six-man is out with a red card suspension. He will be replaced by Alex Král, who has already stepped in for Khedira during his teammate’s injury break.
14:57
Xabi Alonso rotated a lot against Qarabağ. After a few interviews with the coach, Lukáš Hrádecký should be happy to be back in goal and replace Matěj Kovář. Odilon Kossounou, Jeremie Frimpong, Exequiel Palacios and Jonas Hofmann also return to the starting eleven. Josip Stanišić, Robert Andrich, Nathan Tella and Amine Adli are on the bench for now.
2:48 p.m
It would be fitting for football if Union Berlin of all people caused the surprise. For 13 competitive games without a win, the Iron Men have now completely lost themselves. What was disproportionately successful in recent years is now no longer successful at all. At least that was the case until last Wednesday. Suddenly Union came back with a 1-1 draw against Napoli’s Diego Maradona. Maybe it’s the feeling of success that causes the pendulum to swing in the other direction again.
2:39 p.m
Back to the top of the table! The Werkself’s approach could hardly be any different. After all, the Rhinelanders have so far stringed together one victory after another. However, the impact is already getting closer: It was pretty close against Wolfsburg three weeks ago, then Freiburg sniffed at a late equalizer and Hoffenheim also came back from going behind. During the week it took until injury time before the decisive goal was scored against Qarabağ FK. Is Bayer 04 due today?
14:28
The duel of opposites! 16 games without defeat meet 13 games without a win. Bayer Leverkusen welcomes 1. FC Union Berlin. Welcome!