No intermediate round necessary in EL: Bayer is celebrating late in the European Cup break

Thursday, November 25, 2021

No intermediate round in EL necessary
Bayer is celebrating late in the European Cup break

The second round of the Europa League will take place in February and Bayer Leverkusen will then be able to calmly watch who it is up against in the round of 16. The Werkself give away a lead against Celtic Glasgow and turn the game around in the closing stages. The group win means a break in the European Cup.

Bayer Leverkusen used the first match ball and went straight to the second round of the Europa League as group winners. The team of coach Gerardo Seoane deservedly won against the 51-time Scottish champions Celtic Glasgow with 3: 2 (1: 1). As a result, the Werkself avoid the “relegated” from the Champions League in the second round and can rotate in the final group game at Ferencvaros Budapest.

Robert Andrich (16th) brought Leverkusen, which had surprisingly failed in the previous season in the round of 32 due to Seoane’s ex-team Young Boys Bern, into the lead. Josip Juranovic (40th, foul penalty after video evidence) equalized for the hoops. After Jota (56th) scored again for Celtic, Andrich (82nd) ​​and Moussa Diaby (87th) turned the match. Glasgow has to make do with the newly created, unloved Conference League as third.

Leverkusen tore the game right from the start, without initially becoming dangerous despite being clearly superior. In the first two approaches, Andrich failed once with a deflected shot and then with his head at the following corner (10th). The lead was in the air against a very defensive guest from Scotland.

Once a crossbar, once a post before the break

After a corner from the young national player Florian Wirtz, Andrich pushed the ball into the far corner to give it a well-deserved lead. Bayer also played in a superior manner in front of 19,830 spectators in the BayArena without initially creating any further chances.

Perhaps that is one of the reasons why the numerous Celtic fans who traveled with them preferred to get themselves into the Christmas mood with the evergreen “Last Christmas” away from the game. The guest block only fell into ecstasy when the Greek referee Anastasios Sidiropoulos decided on a penalty after a foul by Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky on Kyogo Furuhashi after studying video. With a little luck, Juranovic transformed this.

Shortly before the break, Leverkusen should have restored the lead: First Diaby hit the crossbar, and Wirtz put the margin against the outside post with his outside instep (44th).

After the break, Amine Adli hesitated in front of the empty goal, so that former England goalkeeper Joe Hart was able to take the ball off his feet (53rd). This retaliated when Jota, free-standing, pushed the guests’ second shot on goal into the far corner. Adli and Paulinho (74th) gave good chances to equalize. Then Andrich and Diaby met.