SThe first Bundesliga home game of the season showed the potential of the Bayer 04 Leverkusen team this season. The Bundesliga sixth last season, after a second half of the season that was below average for his circumstances, shone at the home premiere of their new coach Gerardo Seoane with a clear demonstration of his own possibilities and defeated the similarly highly rated Mönchengladbach Borussia after a first-class performance 4-0 with an own goal Gladbacher Keepers Sommer (3rd minute) as well as the hits from Schick (8th), Diaby (55th) and Amiri (87th).
The Gladbachers, who remained below their potential over the entire route, could not even use a penalty kick, which the new Leverkusen captain Hradecky effortlessly parried (43.). On Saturday evening, only the Europa League participant and current second in the table shone in the arena, which was sold out according to Corona standards with 15,105 spectators, while the Mönchengladbachers, who were thought to be equally strong, never found their way to their own first-class opportunities.
“We had the idea to start with a high intensity,” said Seoane about the Leverkusen surprise football at the beginning, “the game-decisive moments were for us. We take this game as a benchmark. ”At Gladbach, the players who usually wear the game were disappointing. “You’re not at the top level every Saturday,” said the unusually agitated goalkeeper Yann Sommer about his performance and that of his teammates.
New trainers and high standards
From the outset, both teams wanted to underpin higher claims with a win. After all, Bayer and Borussia belong to the first third of the Bundesliga in terms of quality, which was more evident at the start of the season with the Gladbachers and their 1-1 draw against champions Bayern Munich than with the Leverkusen team, who won 1-1 at Union Berlin . The two coaches were also in the spotlight at this Rhenish neighborhood duel: Gerardo Seoane, who won three championship titles with Young Boys Bern in the past three seasons, and his predecessor at the Swiss capital club.
The Austrian Adi Hütter won the title with the Young Boys in 2018 before moving to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga and now with a lot of noise and a seven-figure transfer fee to Mönchengladbach. Both football teachers stand for an offensive, courageous football, which this time only Seoanes Leverkusen showed.
The way this game began, Borussia lost their courage early on, because after a few minutes Leverkusen, who stormed away unstoppably in the first half, led 2-0. The first hit was preceded by a low shot by the new Dutch left-back Mitchel Bakker from a long distance against the right post before the ball jumped goalkeeper Sommer to the left shin and from there into the goal.
Slapstick in the BayArena and the overture to a Bayer spectacle, which center forward Patrik Schick – at the European Championship with five goals as well as Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo – refined with a half-high flick into the left corner of the goal. The signs for a gala for Seoane’s team were set, especially since Borussia did not find their game at all. After Bakker’s foul on Lainer, she couldn’t even use a penalty kick (43.) because Hradecky Stindl’s weak penalty was parried.
Major injury concerns at Gladbach
Mönchengladbach also had to complain about the failure of the massive striker Marcus Thuram, who twisted his right knee and is possibly more seriously injured. He was replaced by Wolf (20th). Lainer also had to go out shortly before the break. As both head coach Adi Hütter and sports director Max Eberl explained in an interview after the game, the right-back is suspected of having a broken ankle. Bensebaini, who had recovered from a thigh injury, played in his place.
A look at the first half did not offer any prospect of being able to turn the game around. The Werkself, brought on a brave path by Seoane, played too dominant, aggressive, eager to play and convinced of themselves. Measured against this, Borussia seemed staid, slow to act and almost intimidated in the first 25 minutes.
Gladbachers took more courage at the beginning of the second half when Neuhaus’ header just missed his goal (50th). But then Bayer was faced with bankruptcies, bad luck and mishaps again when Bensebaini directed the shot of Diaby, who was spinning like crazy, past Sommer into his own net. The 3: 0 then left no more questions about winners and defeats. The almost logical end point was Amiri with his goal to make it 4-0.
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