Boniface and Joker Schick meet
And then Patrik Schick also scored: Bayer Leverkusen is in a class of its own in Europe this season and is now the best team in the Europa League. After the 2-0 (1-0) victory against the Swedish Cup winner BK Häcken, the team of coach Xabi Alonso achieved the first victory of the group with a B eleven which was changed to eight positions after having progressed. This guarantees direct entry into the round of 16 without having to go through the play-offs against a team relegated from the Champions League.
A particularly pleasant moment was the goal of striker Schick, who, after a long period of suffering, scored his first goal in 284 days (74th). Victor Boniface took the lead (14th). Bayer is the only team among the 32 participants to have won all five group matches. Furthermore, last year’s semi-finalists celebrated five consecutive European Cup victories for the first time in almost 30 years, and there have never been so many. Thursday’s success was the 18th in the 19th competitive match of the season. The breakthrough home match against Borussia Dortmund is scheduled for Sunday in the Bundesliga. The vice-champion is currently ten points behind the “Werkself”.
Bayer controlled the match with more than 60% possession and took advantage of their first opportunity. After a cross from Bayern loanee Josip Stanisic, Boniface headed to the far post from four yards. In the Bundesliga, the Nigerian, top scorer in the Europa League in the Saint-Gilles jersey last season, has not scored for five games or 449 minutes. In his favorite competition, he has now scored in four out of five matches.
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As a result, the Bundesliga team did not shine, had only one chance before the break thanks to Nathan Tella (22nd) and even almost equalized after an uncertainty from Matej Kovar, who replaced the goalkeeper regular Lukas Hradecky in every Euro match. Cup as previously conceded (34th). “We play seriously, but the Swedes also do it well,” club boss Fernando Carro said during the break on “RTL”.
Alonso continued to distribute match training. He brought in Noah Mbamba, 18, in place of Boniface at the break or Schick in the 63rd minute, who took the decision again eleven minutes later on an assist from Stanisic.
Eintracht Frankfurt lost their last chance to win the group
Eintracht Frankfurt no longer has any chance of qualifying directly for the knockout stages of the Conference League. The Hessians lost their home match against PAOK Salonika 1:2 (0:0) on Thursday. With four points behind the Greek first division team and a game to play, Eintracht can no longer win the group, which would automatically qualify them for the round of 16. The club is already qualified for the playoffs.
Omar Marmoush (58th minute) equalized, while Tomasz Kedziora (55th) and Andrija Zivkovic (73rd) scored for the visitors. In stoppage time, Kristijan Jakic from Frankfurt received a yellow-red card (90+4).
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