What the papers say: ‘Leverkusen can still shine’

The Welt am Sonntag comes to the following conclusion: “Leverkusen earned their victory through brave and attacking football.” The Sunday paper also highlights two numbers: “Under their new coach Hannes Wolf, Bayer have won all three home games and also secured a victory against a team in the top four for the first time this season.”

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung draws a troubling conclusion from the perspective of the team from Hessen: “Eintracht games under the Bayer Cross have become a cross to bear. Frankfurt lost their sixth Bundesliga game at Leverkusen. 1-3 on Saturday night, and Bayer 04 deserved to win.” What wasn’t mentioned: As in the previous five games at the BayArena, including the DFB Cup game at the start of the year that makes it six matches, Frankfurt conceded at least three goals again.

“Hardly any gaps” in defence

The report in the online edition of the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger makes the following assessment: “Leverkusen can still shine.” Under the heading ’That was good’ is: “The Werkself as a whole. Particularly during the opening stages of the game, the moves were good and Bayer 04 appeared to have lost the weight off their shoulders.Their game did not fall apart – there were hardly any gaps in the Bayer defence in spite key defender Sven Bender dropping out late on.”

Bild am Sonntag presents the prospects for Bayer 04: “Leverkusen are right back in the race for Europe.” The fact the Werkself did not take the lead in the first half is primarily attributed to the Eintracht goalkeeper: “Kevin Trapp was Frankfurt’s best player up to the break with five saves.” The Rheinische Post adopts the same view in their online edition: “Trapp was centre stage: The home team must have been annoyed that the score was 0-0 at half time.”

“Leverkusen cement European spot six” is the headline in the online report in kicker and they praise the determination of the Werkself and “an outstandingly mature performance.” There is also acclaim for the impressive defence: “The team from Hessen were unable to break down the hosts’ solid defence.”