A German Tale: Leverkusen On the Rise - Presented by BigJdotcom01

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BUNDESLIGA MATCHDAY 9

vs.

EINTRACHT FRANKFURT 1:0 LEVERKUSEN
Deutsche Bank Park (Capacity: 51,500)


Djibril Sow put home his own rebound in the 51st minute to give Frankfurt the victory.

SCORING:
51' - (SGE) - D. Sow

DISCIPLINE:
2' - (B04) - K. Bellarabi (Yellow)
48' - (B04) - P. Schick (Yellow)
69' - (B04) - L. Bender (Yellow)

10/25/20
Frankfurt, Hesse (AP) - Bayer Leverkusen was kept off the score sheet for a second consecutive Bundesliga match as they dropped a hard fought match 1-nil on Sunday afternoon to Eintracht Frankfurt. Djibril Sow's goal early in the second half proved to be the winner in the highly contested match.

The opening half was pretty evenly played as the teams went to the break scoreless. The best opportunity in the opening 45 minutes came off the foot of Moussa Diaby, who was stopped by a great save from Kevin Trapp. Frankfurt outshot Leverkusen 7-4.

Djibril Sow would break the ice in the 51st minute. He came in and Niklas Lomb made the initial save on Sow's shot, but the rebound hit Sow and bounced back past Lomb and Sow had to just tap it into the empty goal to put Frankfurt in front. Lomb was making his second consecutive Bundesliga start for Leverkusen.

Kevin Trapp then made a couple of crucial saves down the stretch to keep Frankfurt out front. In the 79th minute he deflected a Patrik Schick shot over the bar and then made a diving save on Kerem Demirbay in the 86th minute.

Frankfurt (6-1-2, 19 pts) would outshoot Leverkusen 17-7 and 9-4 in shots on target but Leverkusen's chances were excellent. They just could not finish.

Karim Bellarabi suffered a bruised leg early in the match and had to come off. He will be out for up to a week.

Leverkusen (5-0-4, 15 pts) will return home for a mid-week clash on Wednesday with 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf in second round action of the DFB-Pokal. They return to Bundesliga play next Saturday as they will host Werder Bremen.

Matchday 9 Results:
Schalke 04 0:2 Hertha Berlin
RB Leipzig 0:2 Wolfsburg
FC Augsburg 1:3 Dortmund
Mainz 05 1:2 SC Freiburg
Werder Bremen 1:0 Stuttgart
Bielefeld 0:4 1899 Hoffenheim
FC Koln 3:1 Union Berlin
Monchengladbach 0:2 FC Bayern

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DFB-POKAL SECOND ROUND



vs.

LEVERKUSEN 3:0 FORTUNA DUSSELDORF
BayArena (Capacity: 30,810)


Florian Wirtz calling in a favor after opening the scoring.

SCORING:
22' - (B04) - F. Wirtz
79' - (B04) - E. Camavinga
87' - (B04) - D. McNeil

DISCIPLINE:
52' - (F95) - K. Danso (Yellow)

10/28/20
Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia (AP) - Bayer Leverkusen opened up it's DFB-Pokal tournament with a second round 3-nil victory over longtime rival Fortuna Dusseldorf at BayArena on Wednesday evening. Two late goals made the margin a bit larger than how the match played out, but Leverkusen will take it.

Leverkusen was all over Dusseldorf from the start, and almost took a very early lead but the woodwork was kind to the visitors as Dwight McNeil's shot in the 7th minute hit the woodwork and bounced back out.

Dusseldorf was not as lucky in the 22nd minute when Sebastiano Esposito beat his man at the top of the box and passed it into Florian Wirtz near the penalty spot, where he one timed it into the right corner to give Leverkusen a lead. Esposito and Julian Baumgartlinger each had glorious chances to increase that lead but fluffed their lines and we went to halftime with Leverkusen leading 1-nil.

Rouwen Hennings had a marvelous chance to equalize in the 50th minute but his shot sailed just over the bar.

Lennart Grill, making his first appearance for Leverkusen this year, then came up with a huge save in the 70th minute on a cracker from Dawid Kownacki.

Leverkusen would put it away with two late goals as Eduardo Camavinga and Dwight McNeil sealed it with markers in the 79th and 87th minutes. It was a rightful result with Leverkusen holding advantages in shots, shots on target and possession. Dwight McNeil earned Man of the Match honors.

Leverkusen returns to Bundesliga action on Saturday as they host Werder Bremen (3-3-3, 12 pts). Bayer have lost three of their last five Bundesliga matches.

DFB-Pokal Second Round Results:
Monchengladbach 1:0 Hertha Berlin
VFL Osnbruck 0:1 Wolfsburg
Jahn Regensburg 2:1 FC Ingolstadt
FC Augsburg 1:2 Arminia Bielefeld
Hannover 96 1:1 Stuttgart (Hannover 96 advance 4-3 on penalties)
Union Berlin 0:2 SC Freiburg
SV Sandhausen 1:0 SV Paderborn 07
1. FC Koln 0:1 SV Darmstadt 98
Frankfurt 2:1 Werder Bremen
FC Bayern 2:1 Dortmund
Viktoria Koln 3:3 Mainz 05 (Viktoria Koln advance 4-3 on penalties)
Hamburger SV 2:2 FC Heidenheim (FC Heidenheim advance 4-3 on penalties)
RB Leipzig 4:0 Turkgucu
Karlsruher 0:0 SC Wurzburg (Karlsruher advance 4-3 on penalties)
1899 Hoffenheim 1:0 Schalke 04

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DFB-POKAL ROUND THREE DRAW

DFB-POKAL ROUND 3 DRAW:
(Matches Played December 2nd or 3rd)
1. FC Heidenheim vs RB Leipzig
1899 Hoffenheim vs. SV Sanhausen
Leverkusen vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
Viktoria Koln vs. Arminia Bielefeld
Jahn Regensburg vs. Monchengladbach
Wolfsburg vs. SC Freiburg
Hannover 96 vs. FC Bayern
SV Darmstadt 98 vs. Karlsruher SC

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BUNDESLIGA MATCHDAY 10

vs.

LEVERKUSEN 0:0 WERDER BREMEN
BayArena (Capacity: 30,810)


Lukas Hradacky made the save of the match on a penalty in the 36th minute.

SCORING:
NONE

DISCIPLINE:
NONE

10/31/20
Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia (AP) - Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen played to a scoreless draw on Saturday evening at BayArena. It wasn't a game without chances, but Werder Bremen just packed it in defensively and dared Leverkusen to try and break through and they could not.

Keeper Jiri Pavlenka kept Leverkusen off the board in the 14th minute with a nice save on a shot from Moussa Diaby. Patrik Schick then missed from just inside the box in the 24th minute, sailing a shot just over the bar.

Werder Bremen then got a huge break in the 36th minute when Marco Friedl was tripped in the box by Charles Araguiz that produced a penalty. But Lukas Hradacky came up huge, blocking the shot from Niclas Fullkrug to keep the match scoreless.

Pavlenka would come up with another huge save in the 71st minute, this time on Patrik Schick, as he deflected his shot over the goal. Moussa Diaby would get one more great chance in the 80th minute and he charged in from the left but his shot hit the side netting and this one ended a draw.

The draw was Leverkusen's first on the campaign and more troubling is the fact that it was their third straight Bundesliga match without a goal. They fall to (5-1-4, 16 pts) on the campaign and seem to be stuck in neutral at the moment.

Werder Bremen (3-4-3, 13 pts) remains two points behind Leverkusen.

Shots were even at 9-9 with Leverkusen getting five on target to Bremen's four. Kevin Mohwald was the Man of the Match.

Matchday 10 Results:
Monchengladbach 1:0 FC Augsburg
FC Bayern 2:0 Cologne
1899 Hoffenheim 1:2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Stuttgart 0:3 Schalke 04
Hertha Berlin 1:2 Mainz 05
Wolfsburg 1:3 Dortmund
Union Berlin 0:1 Arminia Bielefeld
SC Freiburg 1:3 RB Leipzig

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UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE MATCHDAY 4



vs.

WARTA POZNAN 0:3 LEVERKUSEN
Stadion Miejski Warty (Capacity: 4,694)


Eduardo Camavinga found his name on the score sheet again.

SCORING:
6' - (B04) - E. Camavinga
31' - (B04) - K. Demirbay
48' - (B04) - S. Esposito

DISCIPLINE:
83' - (B04) - F. Wirtz (Yellow)

11/5/20
Poznan, Poland (AP) - Bayer Leverkusen cruised to an easy 3-nil victory over Warta Poznan on Thursday evening in snowy Poznan. Kerem Demirbay was dominating in this one, scoring once and assisting on the other two goals and generally making life miserable for the home side as Leverkusen punched it's ticket into th eknockout round of the Europa League with two group matches still remaining.

It was Eduardo Camavinga in the sixth minute that got this one off on th eright foot for Leverkusen. He took a pass from Demirbay, then dribbled past his defender at the top of the box and unleashed a deadly left footed strike to make it 1-nil.

In the 31st minute it was Kerem Demirbay down the center of the park on the counter attack and he slipped it past Adrian Lis, who had no chance to stop it, to make it 2-nil.

Sebastiano Esposito put a cap on it in the 48th minute, taking a pass from Demirbay following a Warta Poznan turnover, and easily beating Lis to make it 3-nil.

Paulinho would have three excellent chances to add to the score line but hit the crossbar on one, the woodwork on the next and wide on the third.

Leverkusen outshot Warta Poznan 13-8 and held possession for 56% of the match. The home side never really made life tough for Lukas Hradacky as he recorded his third clean sheet in four Europa League matches.

Bayer returns to Bundesliga action on Sunday at Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen as they take on Schalke 04.

UEFA Europa League Matchday 4 Results:
Sivasspor 2:0 Hamilton Academical
Sparta Praha 1:1 Gaziantep
Vitesse 3:1 Bologna
Konyaspor 1:2 Elche CF
Academica 1:0 Dijon FCO 0
FK Bodo/Glimt 0:3 Aalborg BK
Mainz 05 2:3 Sparta Rotterdam
Real Sociedad 2:1 Aalesunds FK
Sporting CP 1:2 LOSC
Napoli 2:0 Odense BK
FK Haugesund 0:2 Chindia
Arsenal 2:2 OCG Nice
SC Braga 2:1 Royal Antwerp FC
Feyenoord 1:2 Crystal Palace
Slavia Praha 2:4 FC Botosani
CSKA Moscow 0:3 Celtic
Dundalk 1:2 Villarreal CF
Spartak Moscow 1:0 OH Leuven
Malmo FF 1:1 Livingston
Wolfsberger AC 0:1 Aarhus AGF
Standard Liege 0:2 1899 Hoffenheim
Leicester City 3:0 TSV Hartberg
FC Famalicao 0:2 Roma FC

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BUNDESLIGA MATCHDAY 11

vs.

SCHALKE 04 1:3 LEVERKUSEN
Veltins Arena (Capacity: 62,271)


Dani Olmo rips one through the legs of Frederick Ronnow to put Leverkusen up 2-nil

SCORING:
11' - (B04) - C. Aranguiz
30' - (B04) - D. Olmo
39' - (B04) - C. Aranguiz
66' - (S04) - N. Amiri

DISCIPLINE:
NONE

11/8/20
Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia (AP) - Sunday afternoon it was the Charles Aranguiz show as he was spectacular in Bayer Leverkusen's 3-1 victory over Schalke 04 at the Veltins Arena. Aranguiz scored twice and assisted on the other goal as Leverkusen snapped a 316 minute scoreless streak in Bundesliga play.

Leverkusen (6-1-4, 19 pts) came out and really took the play to Schalke early on. Moussa Diaby brought the ball in from the left side and as the centerback moved towards him, he sent a perfect pass into Charles Aranguiz and he made no mistake hitting a left footer between two defenders and into the top right corner to put Leverkusen up 1-nil.

In the 30th minute, Aranguiz passed to Dani Olmo at the top of the box. He ripped one between the legs of keeper Fredrick Ronnow to make it 2-nil. Nine minutes later Olmo returned the favor, leaving a ball for a trailing Charles Aranguiz and he blasted it into the lower left corner to make it 3-nil.

Schalke would finally have an answer in the 66th minute. Goncalo Paciencia had the ball in midfield, turned and sent a through ball onto Nadiem Amiri. He dribbled to the top of the box and unleashed a howitzer into the top right corner to get Schalke on the scoreboard. The Royal Blues then turned up the heat for about ten minutes, putting some pressure on Leverkusen with Lukas Hradacky having to make a few saves, but they could not find another answer.

FC Schalke 04 fell to (3-1-7, 10 pts) and now sits in 14th place in the Bundesliga, just three points ahead of the relegation playoff position. Leverkusen moved to within one point of sixth place 1899 Hoffenheim. They return home a week from Saturday to face 1. FSV Mainz 05 (3-1-7, 10 pts).

Matchday 11 Results:
Cologne 0:1 Monchengladbach
Eintracht Frankfurt 2:1 Union Berlin
Arminia Bielefeld 0:2 FC Bayern
RB Leipzig 1:0 Hertha Berlin
Dortmund 1:1 SC Freiburg
FC Augsburg 0:4 Wolfsburg
Mainz 05 1:3 Stuttgart
Werder Bremen 0:2 1899 Hoffenheim