2–0 Against Leipzig – Exactly the Stability We Have Been Missing

Some wins feel bigger than the scoreline. The 2–0 against RB Leipzig was one of those for me. Not because Bayer 04 played them off the park for 90 minutes – far from it. The first half in particular was hard work. But after the defensive wobbles of recent weeks, there was something much more important to see this time: organisation, discipline and the ability to win a match even when everything is not flowing perfectly.

The afternoon also began on a sad note. Bayer played in mourning bands in memory of Peter Hermann and the BayArena paid tribute to a man who shaped football in Leverkusen for decades. Once the game started, the Werkself were focused, even if Leipzig initially looked the more dangerous side. Mark Flekken had to deal with an early effort from Banzuzi, and for a long time it was a tactical, fairly cautious contest. Bayer had spells of control but too often lacked precision in the final third. Miguel Gutiérrez just missed a Quansah cross, Aleix Garcia fired over and Schick and Diaby failed to convert a double chance. I had more or less settled for 0–0 at half-time.

Then came Schick. Of course. Gutiérrez delivered a perfect cross and Schick met it first time just before the break. A superb finish, but also a goal at exactly the right moment. When a first half has been difficult and not much has worked cleanly, scoring seconds before the whistle is worth a great deal. Schick currently has that lovely striker’s simplicity again: no unnecessary touch, no second thoughts. Ball arrives, ball goes in.

Bayer were much better after the break. Maza, Diaby and Moreira brought more pace to the attacking play, the combinations became smoother and Leipzig gradually lost their grip on the match. The visitors certainly helped with the second goal, but Gutiérrez still had to punish the mistake – and he did, firing home his first competitive goal for Bayer. After also creating the opener, he was comfortably my man of the match.

More important than either goal, though, was what happened at the other end. That is where I have had my biggest concerns recently. Against Elversberg, Bayer were far too open. In Augsburg, a few minutes of defensive chaos nearly threw away a game that had been under control. Against Leipzig, things looked much more mature. Tapsoba and Medina won important duels, Quansah stayed disciplined and Gutiérrez worked just as hard defensively as he did going forward. Leipzig still had moments, but there was none of that sequence of huge spaces, missed assignments and avoidable panic that had been driving me mad.

It was not perfect. Bayer struggled badly in the duels before the break, and Leipzig even had the ball in the net before VAR ruled the goal out for offside. So there is no point pretending the first half was some sort of masterpiece. It was not. But that is exactly why I liked the performance. Bayer survived a difficult spell, did not lose their heads and improved as the game went on. That is what a stable side does. It does not always dominate; sometimes it simply refuses to fall apart.

Schick could even have added a third later on, but by then the result never really felt in danger. No frantic retreat, no needless drama, no late defensive gift. After the last few weeks, it is difficult to overstate how enjoyable that kind of boring can be.

There are signs now of what Carles Martínez wants this side to become. The home performances are looking increasingly convincing, and the Europa League campaign has started with a win as well. There is still plenty to improve, and the away displays remain a useful warning against getting carried away. But against Leipzig, Bayer finally showed exactly what I had been asking for: fewer defensive presents, more concentration and the ability to control a game without needing to produce attacking fireworks every five minutes.

Now comes the long international break, with Mainz waiting afterwards.

If we defend there with the same discipline we showed against Leipzig, I would be perfectly happy for another Bayer match to finish in pleasantly uneventful fashion.

2–0 Against Celje – Three Points, but No Reason for European Euphoria Yet

European nights at the BayArena can give me two things as far as I am concerned: a win and as little unnecessary stress as possible. Against NK Celje, Bayer 04 delivered both often enough. Three points are on the board, which is exactly what should have been expected against the Slovenian champions. In terms of performance, though, there was still plenty of room for improvement – and both Carles Martínez and Robert Andrich said as much afterwards. 

Martínez rotated heavily and made six changes from the draw in Augsburg. Martin Terrier started for the first time since March, Robert Andrich made his first start of the season, and Patrik Schick, Malik Tillman and Lucas Vázquez were among those brought back into the starting eleven. Bayer needed a few minutes to settle, but then increasingly took control. Terrier hit the post, Edmond Tapsoba forced the goalkeeper into a save, and eventually Aleix Garcia’s cross was deflected into the net by Svit Seslar. Not exactly one for the goal-of-the-season compilation, but in Europe I rarely ask too many questions about artistic merit. 

Garcia was the standout player for me. He dictated the tempo, kept appearing in dangerous areas and was directly involved in seven of Bayer’s twelve first-half attempts. That kind of presence is exactly what the team needs in midfield. Even so, Bayer should have made more of their superiority. Schick headed wide and Terrier missed when well placed. Against stronger opposition, those are the chances you cannot afford to keep wasting. 

There was also a warning sign at the other end. Despite Bayer’s control, Celje still created several very good chances, and Mark Flekken had to make a number of important saves in the first half. When your goalkeeper is one of the more noticeable players against opposition of this level, I do not find that especially reassuring. Defensive organisation had already bothered me in Augsburg, and there were moments here when the same issue appeared again. Celje did not punish the spaces they were given, but better teams will. Andrich himself pointed out afterwards that Bayer had allowed the visitors too much room. 

The second half became increasingly flat. Bayer still controlled possession, but for a long time there was not enough real threat. The introductions of Afonso Moreira and Christian Kofane finally brought more movement. Moreira hit the bar, and from the resulting corner Facundo Medina added the second. Medina is quietly developing into a rather unlikely BayArena goalscorer: two home appearances, two goals. For a defender, I will happily take that. 

There were other positives too. Terrier was back in the starting line-up and Eliesse Ben Seghir returned after injury. But my overall impression remains similar to the opening Bundesliga matches: this Bayer side has plenty of quality, but it is still too inconsistent. The good spells are becoming more frequent. What is still missing is the ability to sustain them for the full 90 minutes – more clinical finishing at one end and fewer unnecessary spaces at the other.

Three points, a clean sheet, job done.

That is not enough for European euphoria just yet.

But it was certainly enough for a successful night at the BayArena.

2–2 in Augsburg – 80 Good Minutes, Ten Minutes Asleep

There are matches after which you are not quite sure whether you have gained a point or thrown two away. The 2–2 draw at Augsburg belongs exactly in that category. Bayer 04 were the better side for long spells, deservedly took the lead, finished with 30 shots and 63 per cent possession – and still needed Patrik Schick in the 89th minute just to rescue something. Standard Bayer madness, really: do plenty right, then nearly ruin the entire afternoon with ten minutes of collective sleepwalking.

Carles Martínez made two changes from the 4–0 win over Union. Moussa Diaby started for the first time since his return, while Christian Kofane was preferred to Schick up front. That decision paid off. After a long ball from Edmond Tapsoba, Kofane controlled it brilliantly, beat his man and finished for 1–0. It was not just a lovely goal, but also a reminder that Bayer have more than one reliable option through the middle.

I liked the first half. Tapsoba and Facundo Medina largely kept Augsburg away from goal, Ibrahim Maza was a threat and Diaby added pace. The 1–0 lead was deserved and probably too narrow. That is why what happened after the break was so difficult to accept. Suddenly, almost all of the defensive order disappeared. For the equaliser, Augsburg came through far too easily before Gregoritsch finished through Flekken’s legs. Five minutes later, the same player was completely unmarked at the far post from a corner and headed in for 2–1. For me, that is more than just a brief lapse in concentration. In that sequence, it was simply poor defending.

The second goal in particular should never happen. From a corner, everyone knows the dangerous areas and who needs to be picked up. Yet Gregoritsch was standing there almost completely free. No pressure, no proper marking, apparently not enough communication either. He practically had time to recite his postcode before anyone in a Bayer shirt noticed that he was alone in the box. If we seriously want to compete near the top of the table, we cannot defend like that. It had nothing to do with bad luck. It was just not good enough.

And that is currently the sore point of this team for me. We talk a lot about the attacking quality – Schick, Kofane, Diaby, Maza and all the options going forward. But what is the point of having all that talent if the defensive structure can disappear within a few minutes? We already saw in Elversberg how quickly Bayer can lose control without the ball. Against Union, the response was excellent. In Augsburg, the same problem appeared again, even if only for a short spell. It cannot become a pattern.

At least Bayer did not collapse this time. Maza appeared to equalise, only for VAR to rule the goal out because of an earlier foul by Quansah. Martínez brought on Schick and Guéla Doué, and from then on it was almost one-way traffic. Augsburg dropped deep, Bayer crossed, shot and pushed – only to find another leg, another block or another bit of imprecision in the way. Thirty attempts sound dominant. They can also describe an awful lot of frustration.

Then came Schick. Of course he did. In the 89th minute, he redirected a mishit effort from Malik Tillman with his heel into the far corner. 2–2. Technically excellent, instinctive and exactly the sort of finish that makes him so valuable. Schick does not always need the perfect move. Sometimes half a second in the box is enough.

Overall, Bayer played a decent away game against the league leaders and deserved the point. Kofane scored, Schick scored, Diaby added pace and Doué got his first minutes. But I do not want those positives to hide the main problem. The attack is currently capable of repairing a lot of defensive mistakes. That is not a sustainable plan.

Four points from three matches are no disaster. But they also show that this Werkself are still a long way from being truly stable at the back. If we want to challenge near the top, it is not enough to score attractive goals. We also have to stop turning controlled matches into rescue missions because of two badly defended situations.

Maybe the lesson from Augsburg is actually very simple: Up front, we have enough quality to rescue almost any game. At the back, we really need to stop making them do it.

4–0 Against Union – That Is Exactly What a Response Should Look Like

After Elversberg, there was really only one thing I wanted to see: a reaction. No tactical masterclass for the cameras, no fireworks for the sake of it, no philosophical discussion about possession. Just a Bayer 04 side that showed from the first whistle that it understood how embarrassing that Bundesliga opener had been. And that is exactly what we got against Union Berlin. A 4–0 win in the first home game of the season, four different goalscorers and, above all, a performance that looked almost completely unrelated to the miserable 3–2 defeat in Elversberg. Before kick-off, Carles Martínez had demanded mentality rather than a reliance on talent. Ninety minutes later, it was fair to say: message received.

The difference was obvious within seconds. Ezequiel Fernández scored virtually straight from kick-off after good work from Miguel Gutiérrez, his first goal in a Bayer shirt. That is exactly how I want to see a team start when it has something to put right: awake, aggressive and without spending the opening quarter of an hour politely checking whether the match has actually begun. Ibrahim Maza had an early opportunity to make it two, Patrik Schick tested Frederik Rönnow with a header, and although the game became a little quieter for a while, I never had the feeling that Bayer were losing control. After Elversberg, that alone felt almost therapeutic. Martínez had also reacted with his team selection. Jarell Quansah and Facundo Medina came into the starting eleven, while Lucas Vázquez and Loïc Badé dropped to the bench. Both changes paid off. Quansah added stability on the right and contributed intelligently going forward, while Medina was excellent on his first Bayer start and powered home Gutiérrez’s cross for 2–0. A defender scoring on his first start while barely putting a foot wrong at the other end is what I would call a fairly successful afternoon.

Gutiérrez was probably the player whose transformation pleased me most. A week earlier in Elversberg, very little had worked for him. Against Union he looked like a different footballer: constant movement, intelligent runs, dangerous crosses and real energy down the left. He kept the ball alive for the opening goal and supplied the assist for Medina’s header. It was a useful reminder of why definitive judgements after one bad match are usually a terrible idea. Footballers are not stock prices, although as supporters we occasionally behave as though we need to redraw the trend line after every Saturday afternoon. Fernández also looked composed after his goal, Tapsoba was far more secure than in Elversberg, and suddenly the defensive unit looked like a functioning Bundesliga defence rather than a group of people who had met in the car park ten minutes before kick-off.

Bayer made sure there would be no unnecessary drama after the break. Just three minutes into the second half, Quansah found Schick and the Czech striker did what he has been doing with reassuring regularity: he scored. For the fourth, Schick showed that he is currently offering much more than goals, producing a lovely backheel into the path of Maza, who finally rewarded himself for another lively display. Maza still occasionally wants one touch too many, but I would rather see a young attacking player take risks than watch every promising move end with the safest possible sideways pass. Schick, meanwhile, looks wonderfully clear about his role. Score goals, link play, cause problems. There are more complicated tactical descriptions available, but I am quite happy with that one.

And then there was Moussa Diaby. His return had dominated the build-up to the home opener, and although he began on the bench, the reception when he came on in the second half was exactly what you would expect. There are moments when my Bayer fan bias works perfectly well, thank you very much, and seeing Diaby back in our shirt was one of them. He immediately offered a few promising attacking moments, even setting up Maza unselfishly late on, and the chants for him after the final whistle showed just how much affection remains. Nostalgia alone will not win football matches, of course. Past memories are lovely; goals and assists in the present are even better. But as a first chapter of his return, this felt pretty good.

There is no need to turn one 4–0 win into proof that everything has suddenly been fixed. Union were remarkably harmless and Mark Flekken had one of the quieter afternoons a Bundesliga goalkeeper will enjoy. Not every Bayer player was outstanding either. Aleix Garcia had some avoidable errors, while Moreira and Tillman were relatively quiet going forward. But the overall picture matters. Bayer were switched on, physically competitive, defensively far more stable and ruthless enough in the decisive moments. Those were precisely the qualities missing in Elversberg.

That, for me, is the most important thing about this result. Anyone can explain away a poor performance. The real question is how a team responds to it. Bayer answered emphatically.

Elversberg was embarrassing. Union was convincing.

And if losing a match is going to be followed by a 4–0 win every time, I might just be able to get used to this particular recovery plan.