After yesterday’s 5-1 humiliation of record champions Bayern Munich at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt, the pressure was on the two main pretenders for the Bundesliga to capitalise. A win would have taken the hosts VFB Stuttgart up to second, overtaking the Bavarians, whilst an away win would ensure Die Werkself entered the winter break in first place. All eyes were on the MHPArena, with lofty expectations for what looked set to be a highly entertaining, top quality game of football - and they would not be disappointed!
Die Schwaben named an unchanged lineup from their DFB Pokal heroics midweek where they expertly dismantled Dortmund 2-0, whilst Leverkusen continued their cup-league rotation policy by making 4 changes from the win versus Paderborn; Amine Adli notably keeping his place in the starting eleven ahead of the experienced Jonas Hofmann. Much speculation was made over the availability of Florian Wirtz (recently awarded the best player in NRW), after the wonderkid sustained a ‘painful blow to his ankle’ causing him to limp off the pitch. Fortunately, after training individually, he was fit enough to take his place in the team, to the relief of Leverkusen fans and neutrals everywhere - and the dismay of Stuttgart and Bayern fans!
The game kicked off at the already darkening MHPArena and from the very first minute, Stuttgart began to assert themselves, pressing fast and physically, even causing a brief injury scare for this season’s rising star in defence, Odilon Kossonou. Not long after, Stuttgart already had their first shot on target with Chris Fuhrich, a player who would prove to be a menace all game, hitting one hard and low at Hradecky who punched it behind for a corner. On the 6th minute mark, Kossounou was handed a yellow card following a clumsy trip on Undav. The resulting free-kick prompted a tremendous goalmouth scramble, reminiscent of that against Hertha Berlin in seasons past. A VAR check found that a Vagnoman goalbound shot, blocked by Tapsoba on the line, hit his chest rather than his arm, sparing the away side a painful early setback. Die Schwarzroten did not heed the early warning however as they visibly struggled, a mere shadow of their ordinary selves, panicking in possession and crumbling under the relentless Stuttgart pressure. Despite the surging dominance of the Swabian outfit, the next big chance (Leverkusen’s best of the half) fell to Adli in the 9th minute. Following a fast break the Morocco international ran onto an incisive through ball by Boniface before smashing the top left corner of the goal frame leaving Nubel rooted as he could only watch the ball whizz past. Ten minutes into the match, Stuttgart had already notched five shots to one and also boasted 58% possession; Leverkusen were being suffocated by their high pressure and fast, accurate passing - having a taste of their own medicine.
The next major opening came at 17 minutes when a clever pass from Mittelstadt inside to Undav who struck it towards the bottom-right corner. Once again, Bayer’s Flying Finn (who is exceeding his expected saves more than any other Bundesliga goalkeeper) dived to meet it, denying Undav the chance to extend his scoring run in the league to four games on the bounce. Sloppy passing from Stuttgart and a failure to properly clear their lines saw Jeremie Frimpong intercept a loose ball and immediately squared it to Victor Boniface whose rushed shot was gratefully grasped by Nubel (24th minute). Just seconds later, at the other end, red-hot Serhou Guirassy found himself 1v1 against Hradecky - this season’s biggest surprise looked destined to bag his 17th goal of the season but the Leverkusen captain stretched out his leg to stop it and a subsequent follow-up from Fuhrich was ably blocked by Jonathan Tah. The game had to be halted at the half hour after a nasty clash of heads between Amine Adli and Waldemar Anton (a player being monitored by Leverkusen according to Kicker) resulted in a bloody wound for the latter which had to be bandaged for the rest of the game. After a couple of Leverkusen half chances from Boniface and Wirtz (33rd and 35th minutes) Stuttgart’s top performance was finally rewarded with a goal. At 40 minutes, the ball found Undav on the right who briefly held it up before timing a pass perfectly onto the marauding Vagnoman who proceeded to square it first time to Chris Fuhrich who, alone at the far post, had an easy tap in. The goal had an xG of 0.97 which not only made it impossible to miss, but a better chance than all of Leverkusen’s first half opportunities combined! At the half-time whistle, the stats did not make for happy reading for Werkself supporters. 18 shots to 8, with 11 on target to 1 - only once before in Bundesliga history, since records began, have there been so many shots on target in the first half. 3.32 expected goals for Stuttgart to 0.61 for Leverkusen. Even possession of the ball, which Bayer 04 averages the second most in the league, was being dominated by Stuttgart (57% to 43%). A first defeat in 197 days was looming and after such an imperious display from Die Schwaben, anything else seemed an impossibility.
But for all the growing pessimism in the Leverkusen camp, one fact still remained - this season’s side is just built differently. Whatever Alonso did in the dressing room worked once again, as always this term, as Bayer Leverkusen reemerged with real intent and desire. Florian Wirtz was already doing one of his trademark dribbles, slaloming through around 4 or 5 defenders to reach the penalty area. Should any goal have come from that mesmeric, magical run it would have surely been mooted for goal of the season. Whilst not Puskas worthy, Wirtz did get his goal in just the 47th minute. Boniface showed excellent strength to hold off, then turn against, the colossus that is Dan-Axel Zagadou before delivering a sumptuous cross to the 20-year-old who passed the ball into the opposite corner of the diving Nubel in typically composed fashion. The game could have so easily been turned on its head not soon after when Tah caught the dazed Stuttgart midfield in possession, passing to Granit Xhaka who proceeded to drill a trademark long range effort into the inside of the right post with Nubel comprehensively beaten. From that moment on, Leverkusen were truly back in the game as shown by the fact that between the 45th and 65th minutes, the away side created six shots to one, including a genius solo effort by Boniface, nutmegging Vagnoman on his way. Stuttgart’s mentality had noticeably transformed from trying to win, to trying to contain Die Werkself as the tempo was increasingly controlled by them and the team radiated its familiar calmness.
There was a momentary penalty claim by the hosts (71st minute) as Maximilian Mittelstadt, formerly of Hertha Berlin, showed off his dance moves doing a roulette before collapsing onto the turf after pressure from Kossounou. Whilst there was contact, no penalty was given as the left back had already lost his balance before the Ivorian touched him and there was also a handball prior. The final chance of note for VFB fell to young Angelo Stiller, who played outstandingly throughout, whose first time effort from just outside the box was again saved by the in-form Hradecky (81st minute). Late on, following a slightly chaotic Alejandro Grimaldo corner, the ball was headed out to Jonathan Tah, already having his most prolific Bundesliga season so far, who volleyed narrowly wide of the left-post (87th minute). It would be the towering centre half to have the final chance of the game too with him heading at the far post straight at the keeper in the final minute of regulation time. The game ended deservedly as a draw, 1-1, but with expected goals of 3.1 and 3.22 respectively, the final score could have been very different indeed.
The draw leaves Bayer Leverkusen top of the table, four points clear of Bayern Munich (who have a game in hand) and five points ahead of today’s opponents. Up next in the Bundesliga for Die Werkself is a home match against Bayern-beating Frankfurt, whilst Stuttgart face the record champions, in what is an exciting opportunity to further extend the lead at the top of the table. Leverkusen fans will be hoping for better performances come January/February as the DFB Pokal has resulted in yet another unexpected twist - the two favourites for the cup, Leverkusen and Stuttgart, will play once again in what can be best described as an early final. With today’s draw, the unbeaten run extends to 22 matches; one more game without defeat would equal an all-time club record and the second best streak in German football history - Thursday cannot come fast enough!
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