19th matchday
No goals: Leverkusen stumbles against Seoanes Gladbacher
Leaders Leverkusen didn’t find a solution against Gladbach’s low position. photo
© Marius Becker/dpa
It’s only the fourth time this season that league leaders Bayer Leverkusen have given up points. And that against former coach Gerardo Seoane. The lead over FC Bayern is now only two points.
The 0-0 draw against Borussia from Mönchengladbach, which was strongly influenced by former coach Gerardo Seoane, reduced the Werkself’s lead over FC Bayern to two points. And in two weeks the Munich team will be coming to the BayArena for the big game.
“That last bite to score the goal was missing,” said sports director Simon Rolfes on Sky. Bayer won the last two Bundesliga games in the final stages. “We stood well, won a lot of second balls, kept the pressure up,” said Rolfes. Despite good chances, it wasn’t enough to score. “Next time, shoot the things in,” said ex-professional Rolfes.
Kovar starts in goal for Hradecky
The Leverkusen team, who played without five regular players and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, who was called to the bench for this game, remained unbeaten in their 28th competitive game of the season. But they dropped points for only the fourth time – after draws against Bayern, Dortmund and Stuttgart, for the first time against an opponent who is not one of the top teams in the league. With 21 points, the Gladbachers are in the lower midfield of the table. Seoane was Alonso’s predecessor at Bayer from summer 2021 to October 2022.
The Leverkusen coach, who is surrounded by speculation about Liverpool FC’s interest following Jürgen Klopp’s resignation announcement, once again took a calculated risk when it came to the lineup. In the last game before the winter break against Bochum (4-0), he rested all the players who were later released for their national teams in order to simulate the Africa Cup. At the start of the year in Augsburg (1-0), Jonathan Tah stayed out so as not to risk a ban from RB Leipzig. Now Alonso’s measure affected captain Hradecky (34).
The regular goalkeeper was replaced by Matej Kovar, who was eleven years younger and had so far played in five Europa League and two cup games. “Both are at a top level,” said Alonso and spoke of “healthy competition.” Kovar’s deployment is also preparation for the cup game against Stuttgart on February 6th. In the upcoming Bundesliga game on February 3rd at Darmstadt 98, Hradecky will be in goal again.
Frimpong with a great opportunity
But Kovar didn’t have much to do at first. He saved a shot from Luca Netz (22nd) and had problems with an attempt from Manu Koné (32nd). Otherwise, Leverkusen was oppressively dominant. And that despite the fact that Tah, Odilon Kossounou, Edmond Tapsoba, Exequiel Palacios and Victor Boniface were missing almost half of the starting eleven that Alonso had called up at the start of the season.
The best opportunity was missed by national player Florian Wirtz, whose shot from eight meters was parried with his knee by Gladbach goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas (24′). But overall, the league leaders seemed too intoxicated with their possession game in the first half, forgetting their determination and determination. And so Leverkusen went into the break 0-0 for the first time in a home game this season.
The big chance came in the 57th minute when Borussia had moved up too far and Bayer was allowed to counter, but Jeremie Frimpong missed after a pass from Wirtz. Bayer now increased the pressure, but Alejandro Grimaldo missed from the best shooting position (60th), Frimpong was slowed down after a solo by a strong tackle from Florian Neuhaus (61st).