What the papers say: 'A tough time of it'

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung assesses the result as follows: "In the end, it turned out the same way as so often in previous years. Once again, a Bundesliga home game for SC Freiburg against Bayer 04 Leverkusen ended goalless. For the fourth time in the past six years." 

The Kölner Stadt Anzeiger assesses the game as follows: "On a Sunday afternoon, the placid Breisgau is inviting for a large number of activities. A whim of the German Football League brought the addition of watching footie on the second weekend in October. The local Sports Club entertained the Bayer 04 Leverkusen team at the second division kick-off time of 13.30 CET. But the football failed to flow. It was only evident in patches as both teams strived hard to perform. The 0-0 scoreline was  a fair reflection."

The Kölnische Rundschau writes: "The visitors were on top of Freiburg for most of the time but seven points from seven games is too little for a club with great potential and high ambition... The hosts handed over – at least up to the halfway line – the initiative to the opponents. They only intensified their defensive efforts 50 yards in front of their own net and there was a back five just in front of their penalty area. That lead to Bayer every now and again combining skilfully going forwards but the decisive pass in the final third was missing."

The Cologne-based Express quotes the words of Bayer 04 sporting managing director Rudi Völler: "We've won four of the last six games, lost once and finished all-square in one game. That's a decent return. Talking about the coach's position is absolute nonsense."

The Rheinische Post draws the following conclusion: "The visitors had a tough time of it against a compact Freiburg defence. Free-kicks mostly hit the wall, long-range efforts from Kevin Volland (27') and Kai Havertz (43') lacked accuracy. Nevertheless, Bayer's  recently shaky defence stood firm in the first half and that was emphasised by the attempts on goal in favour of the Werkself by 10 to 0. The spectators at the Schwarzwald Stadium were treated to same in the second half: Bayer had territorial advantage but were rarely able to find an opening."