Bochum (AP) – When the hustle and bustle and the party on the fence with the fans were over, the Bochum man of the day addressed the supporters with a video message.
“I’m back. It was a very tough few months without you,” said Simon Zoller in the post distributed by VfL. “I’m very, very happy. Thank you for the welcome today. It really means a lot to me. It’s very, very special to me.”
There were no goals in VfL Bochum’s game against Bayer Leverkusen – at least none that counted. The game in the Bundesliga wrote enough stories anyway.
The comeback:
On September 12, 2021, Zoller played his last Bundesliga game until Sunday, and now the 30-year-old’s ordeal was over. The center forward was substituted on in the 81st minute to thunderous applause from the Bochum fans. A cruciate ligament rupture had caused the long downtime for the former Cologne player.
The mishap:
Safe and full of conviction, Leverkusen’s winger Moussa Diaby grabbed the ball for a penalty in the 65th minute. The Frenchman stepped up and also scored. Still, he couldn’t be happy. Because Diaby slipped when he shot and touched the ball more than once, his goal didn’t count. Despite the unfortunate action and the missed win, Leverkusen remains on course for the Champions League. The Werkself are third after matchday 29 in the Bundesliga. The lead over SC Freiburg on the first non-premier class place is four points.
The injured:
Bayer Leverkusen already have plenty of bad luck with injuries this season. National player Florian Wirtz is missing for a long time with a cruciate ligament tear. The two right-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Timothy Fosu-Mensah as well as striker Amine Adli are currently out. In Bochum, coach Gerardo Seoane made two changes again due to injury.
National player Jonathan Tah had to go out in the first half. The central defender’s diagnosis is a bruised rib with bleeding, as Bayer announced on Monday. The 26-year-old is hoping for a speedy recovery. Offensive man Karim Bellarabi was also unable to play the game to the end after being substituted on. He tore a muscle fiber in his left thigh. The 32-year-old will be absent “until further notice”.
Relegation:
Another year in the Bundesliga for Bochum is not yet 100% certain. In view of a ten point lead over the relegation rank, nobody believes in a descent anymore. “As long as it is not mathematically certain that we will hold the league, we will do everything we can,” said VfL coach Thomas Reis. Simon Zoller put it this way in his video message: “Now we’ll play five more games, fix things up, and then we’ll see each other again in the stadium and hopefully soon again in the new season.”