Yet once again, Bayer Leverkusen were fit to be tied in the Champions League after a 0-0 draw Tuesday at the BayArena against an injury-plagued and underwhelming Tottenham Hotspur squad. Three draws in three games leave the Werkself third on three points - which easily could be nine.
To refresh, Roger Schmidt's men squandered a two-goal lead in the Group E opener at home against CSKA. Then they nursed a 1-0 lead in France until Monaco's Kamil Glik struck with the last kick of a 1-1 draw on Matchday 2. Bayer held shot advantages of 18-8 and 10-6 in those games.
That only foretold the story of a matchup with Spurs lacking injured talisman Harry Kane while Son Heung-min made his return to the club that made him famous. You will recall this blogger's trip to Ukraine to see the great Son in action.
Although the Londoners had more of the possession and the stronger of play in the first half, Leverkusen held a final 16-5 edge in shots and piled on the pressure in the second half with Hugo Lloris coming up big for Spurs. No bigger was Lloris' save on Chicharito in the 58th minute although the Mexican missed a good chunk of open net for a shot that the 'keeper barely kept from going over the line.
So an uphill battle remains for Bayer to qualify with road games against Spurs and CSKA along with a home matchup with Monaco. Questions will be asked of Schmidt, who received plaudits from the English media even though his club is in 10th in the Bundesliga and yet to win a Champions League match.
Why Stefan Kießling was allowed to go the full 90 was a good question considering his final 15-20 minutes left plenty to desire and he wasn't that great before that, either. Kießling has only played in three league matches and has yet to score. The same question goes as to why Julian Brandt received only five minutes to make an impact. Hakan Calhanoglu didn't make the most of his start before giving way to Julian Baumgartlinger at the break.
The lone positive was Leverkusen's first clean sheet against an English foe in 17 Champions League matches. They also have three straight at the BayArena, blanking Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund.
Finally you give some long overdue props to Son, and by extension myself and my people!
ReplyDeleteProps? He was barely a factor.
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