Gerardo Seoane included several international players in his starting line-up: Captain Lukas Hradecky returned between the sticks, Patrik Schick was up front from the start. The duo missed the first pre-season friendly against third division MSV Duisburg (6:1) as did Moussa Diaby and Sardar Azmoun. Summer signing Adam Hlozek made his debut for the Black and Reds in the second half.
Ahead of the game, referee Stefan Eder received an official farewell. The 33-year-old match official was a referee in the Austrian Bundesliga and he now ends his career with the match at the Alois Latini Stadium.
Both teams defied the blazing Austrian sun and temperatures of 30 degrees from the start. It quickly developed into an intense encounter albeit with few goalscoring opportunities for either side in the first half.
The Werkself mainly progressed down the right with the pace of Jeremie Frimpong and Diaby with PAOK attacks mostly stemming from left-back Christian Ganea. The two sides went into half-time with the score at 0-0 as the final ball failed to find the target.
Seoane made changes at half-time bringing on ten new players including Ayman Azhil and Joel Pohjanpalo, who have returned from loan. Only Exequiel Palacios remained on the pitch from the starting eleven.
The first good chance for Bayer 04 came just two minutes after the restart when Piero Hincapie put a cross from the left onto the head of Pohjanpalo with the centre-forward heading just wide of the target. The Finland international was also involved in the second big chance for Leverkusen on 75 minutes: A shot from youngster Iker Bravo was parried by the Panathinaikos keeper Yuri Lodygin and Pohjanpalo followed up but the keeper was again able to make the save.
Neither side was able to affect the scoreline with the second friendly for Bayer 04 in the current pre-season ending in a goalless draw. The Werkself are back in action on Thursday 21 July. Serie A club Udinese are the next visitors to Zell am See. The kick-off at the Alois Latini Stadium is at 18.00 CEST.
Match stats:
Bayer 04 starting line-up: Hradecky – Frimpong, Kossounou, Tapsoba, Bakker – Palacios, Demirbay – Diaby, Azmoun, Aourir – Schick
Panathinaikos starting line-up: Brignoli – Vagiannidis, Schenkeveld, Poungouras, Ganea – Alexandropoulos, Perez – Palacios, Cerin, Cantalapiedra – Ioannidis
Booked: Sarlija, Alexandropoulos
Referee: Stefan Eder
Attendance: 400 at the Alois Latini Stadium (Zell am See)
Away fans take note: Tickets for the forthcoming away game for the Werkself against FC St Pauli at the Millerntor Stadium on Sunday, 20 April (kick-off: 19:30 CEST) are exclusively available on the Bayer 04 app. The tickets are available at once and as usual under the 'Profil' tab by clicking on the 'Meine Tickets' button.
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Show moreWhere were you on 14 April 2024? – That question will probably be asked a lot in Leverkusen today. And can there be anybody in this city who doesn't have an answer to hand? Hard to imagine. That Sunday exactly a year ago was too special. Too big. Too stirring. Too incredible. Everybody will have their own personal memory of that historic day. As everybody was there somehow. Even those who were unfortunately unable to get a ticket for the game of games against Werder Bremen.
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