A Night Without a Happy Ending

Friday night, under the lights in the BayArena, packed stands – and a goalless draw that no one saw coming. 0-0 against VfB Stuttgart, last season’s surprise runner-up. When Bayer 04 faces the Swabians, goals and excitement are usually guaranteed. Fast-paced back-and-forth play, often with a happy ending for the Werkself. But this time? Nothing! In the end, the score stayed at zero – not just in our goal but in theirs, too. It almost felt like a cruel joke, considering all the chances we had and the self-assured performance from our boys. Stuttgart came at us with their high pressing, determined to make life difficult, but what did the Werkself do? Pure dominance! Xabi Alonso’s game plan was spot on. We took control, ramped up the offensive engine, and the chances piled up. Only the net stayed empty. In the first half alone, we had some serious moments. Frimpong’s offside goal got our hearts racing for a second, only to bring us back down to reality. And when Tapsoba’s header hit the crossbar, we got that sinking feeling that the aluminum was going to be our toughest opponent tonight.

There are nights when you just feel it – the ball is not going in, and tonight was one of those. The second half started the same way the first ended – with pressure and chances for Leverkusen. We threw everything forward, and then, another post – this time from Boniface. How many times have we already been denied by the woodwork this season? Sometimes it feels like the goals themselves are conspiring against us. Even after our 17th attempt of the night, it was clear that Alexander Nübel and his defense were determined to send us home empty-handed. A defensive wall from Swabia that we just couldn’t break.

To be fair, it was a powerful defensive display from our team. Tah and Tapsoba made sure nothing got through at the back. Stuttgart didn’t manage a single shot for a long time, and beyond that, not much else worked for them either. It wasn’t that the Swabians lacked ideas – it was more that our boys stayed so focused on defense, putting pressure on them early and barely letting them breathe. No real threats materialized, and Hradecky could almost have had a relaxed evening. Only we fans waited for that goal and felt the tension every time the Werkself pushed forward.

Luckily, despite the frustration, there are some positives. This match showed how solid we’ve become. It’s also reassuring to see that our defense is making almost no mistakes across the full 90 minutes – a sign of how far the team has come recently. But of course, with an offense that’s always going full throttle, you just expect goals. Now there’s the away game in Liverpool around the corner, and it’s going to be anything but easy. We’ll need a bit more efficiency up front to withstand the heat at Anfield. But either way, the Werkself has shown us again that they can keep up on any stage – now all we need is a bit of luck.