Four days after Florian Wirtz’ bitter end of the season, the Europa League issue was resolved prematurely for Bayer Leverkusen. Coach Gerardo Seoane’s team lost 0-1 (0-0) in the round of 16 second leg against Atalanta Bergamo on Thursday. Without young star Wirtz, who will be out for months after a cruciate ligament rupture, the third-placed Bundesliga player lacked the offensive power to turn the first leg 2-3 in front of 19,871 spectators. Substitute Jérémie Boga (90+1) scored in added time for Bergamo. For the Bayer team, which was also under pressure in the league, it was the fourth winless competitive game in a row. The ambitious Rhinelanders also failed prematurely in the DFB Cup.
Bayer initially started the race to catch up offensively. Seoane reacted to the serious injuries suffered by Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong (Syndesmoseriss) with five changes compared to the 0-1 draw against 1. FC Köln. Only Moussa Diaby remained in the starting XI in attack – and the 22-year-old was the most conspicuous player at the start. In the eighth minute, the Frenchman failed with a shot that was too unplaced by Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso (8th). The guests, who had to do without the injured Rafael Tolói after just over ten minutes, were waiting for a counterattack. After half an hour, the Serie A table sixth even had the Leverkusen game under control at times. Ruslan Malinovskyi tested Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky with a weak shot (32′), Luis Muriel was closer to taking the lead (35′). The Leverkusen defense had to watch out for the two goal scorers in the first leg.
Bayer lacked the pace in the opposing half in this phase – and probably also the wit of Wirtz, who followed the game in the stadium. The Bayer pros warmed up in shirts with the numbers of the two injured players on them. In the game, the representatives around Amine Adli and Mitchel Bakker found it difficult to create further chances. Right at the beginning of the second half, Diaby failed again because of Musso, who made a strong save with his foot (48′). Leverkusen came out better from the dressing room, but the pressure phase didn’t last too long. Seoane reacted in the 61st minute and made three substitutions. The game became a game of nerves. In the final phase, Bayer tried to attack the strong Bergamo defense. Boga dashed all hopes.