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[2021-02-26 | UEFA Headquarters, Nyon, Switzerland]
[Champions League Quarter-Final Draw]
The draw ceremony was broadcast across Europe. Leverkusen’s coaching staff gathered in the video analysis room at the Leverkusen Performance Centre, watching intently on the large mounted screen.
The presenter pulled the balls one by one from the bowl:
Quarter-Final Match 1: Porto vs Chelsea
Quarter-Final Match 2: Bayern Munich vs Paris Saint-Germain
Quarter-Final Match 3: Real Madrid vs Liverpool
Quarter-Final Match 4:Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Borussia Dortmund
"Dortmund," Bosz muttered, leaning back in his chair. "Well, we knew it was coming."
His assistant, Fredrick Bauer, noted. "All-German tie. The dia will love this."
"Haaland, Sancho, Reus, all healthy," Bosz listed, rubbing his chin. "They have firepower. But so do we. And we’ve already beaten them this season, so we will have the psychological advantage, especially with how well we’re doing this season."
"That could work against us too if the nerves don’t hold up?" soone said, worry clearly visible in their face. "Just look at what happened against Augsburg when we failed to convert 15 chances."
"Hmm, don’t worry, we’ll just fix it in training," Bosz said, not looking too bothered. "We have a good team, but we have been too reliant on our best eleven. If we want to win silverware this season, everyone will need to pull their weight."
"I agree, should we add more attacking situations against the reserves in training this week with interchanging squads?" Fredrick asked, making s notes in his notebook. "Our Centre forwards, except for Shick, have been rather disappointing in front of the goal. The sa could be said for the midfielders who have also been underperforming if Jullian and Wirtz are missing in the formation."
"Let’s do that," Bosz said after mulling it over in his head. "It’s embarrassing that they can’t maintain the level of play without two 17-year-olds. Let’s find the problem and address it."
"Yes, sir," the coaching staff responded, packing up effectively, ending the eting.
~~~
[2021-02-28 | BayArena, Leverkusen | Bundesliga MW 23]
[Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs SC Freiburg | Attendance: 0]
Despite the coaching staff’s plan to improve the match effectiveness of all players in the squad two days later in the match against Freiburg, Bosz still utilised his best available squad. He did this for various reasons, one of them being that Bayern had won their ga in hand, reducing the point difference to just one. They were in a good spot to win the league, but a victory was a must today to reignite their montum.
Thus, in another empty stadium that had beco commonplace in the Bundesliga, both sides exited the tunnel of the BayArena. Freiburg were no pushovers, in this clash having clawed their way up to seventh in the table.
---
Formation - Bayer Leverkusen (4-3-3):
GK: Lukas Hradecky
RB: Jeremie Frimpong
CB: Edmond Tapsoba
CB: Jonathan Tah
LB: Wendell
CM: Florian Wirtz
CDM: Charles Aránguiz
CM: Nadiem Amiri
RW: Moussa Diaby
ST: Patrik Schick
LW: Rakim Rex
Substitutes: Lennart Grill, Lars Bender, Aleksandar Dragović, Julian Baumgartlinger, Kerem Demirbay, Leon Bailey, Demarai Gray, Lucas Alario
Manager Peter Bosz
~~~
*(FWEEET!)*
[8’]
Leverkusen started aggressively, pressing high and pinning Freiburg in their own half. Rakim, who had received sufficient breaks, was eager to attack, and he could be seen frequently calling for the ball. He would attack his flank with gusto, deploying simple one-two with Wirtz or individual trickery that grated the nerves of the nearby defenders.
Freiburg, which set up in a compact (3-4-1-2), didn’t make things easy, though, getting in his path at every turn. CB: Dominique Heintz, RWB: Jonathan Schmid, and CDM: Nicolas Höfler worked together like well-oiled German machinery to shut him down.
It could only go so far before sothing went wrong, and that happened in the 10th minute. Rakim called for the ball on the left touchline. He let Schmidget close enough to commit before looping the ball over his outstretched leg. Accelerating toward the byline, he drew Heintz across, who hustled to close him down.
The winger ca to a sudden stop, moving the ball onto his right and bent a speedy cross around the defender’s figure. Schick battled it out with central CB Schlotterbeck, both lunging at the incoming ball that fell across the face of the goal. Leverkusen’s Czech striker reached it first, but the connection wasn’t clean, as the ball hit the tip of his toe.
"GOALL!" The comntator exclaid when the ball that was toe-poked blasted past the stunned keeper. "He won’t care about technique as long as he gets the goal."
[Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1-0 SC Freiburg — Patrik Schick 14’]
[22]
Getting the goal early energised the Leverkusen ho side, attacking more aggressively. Freiburg tried to respond through Grifo, who collected the ball in the left half-space. The Italian-German winger cut inside Frimpong, shaping to shoot, but Tah red the chance, sliding across to block it.
Florian, Aránguiz, and Nadiem Amiri imdiately got to work following the scare by their opponents. Possession beca the na of the ga as the trio pinged passes back and forth, switching flanks as they asserted control. Rakim and Diaby would often track back to connect with the tria, pulling the visitors out of position to contest.
In the 25th, Aránguiz won back the ball following a hospital pass from Frimpong ant for Amiri. The holding midfielder slid in crisply disposessing Höfler with a crunching but fair tackle. He imdiately played it forward to Schick, who dropped deep to collect.
The striker turned sharply, playing a first-ti pass into Diaby’s run. The French winger latched onto the ball, dribbling into the final third. He slowed down slightly as Heinz stepped up to stop him, a feint inside and a long touch to slip the ball in behind, and he was gone.
Beating his man, he cut inside with his first touch, entering the box before the fullback could recover. Goal Keeper Müller rushed out, but Diaby didn’t force a confrontation and calmly squared it across the six-yard box. Rakim slid in at the back post, tapping it into the empty net with certainty.
"GOOOOOAL!" the comntator roared. "RAKIM REX! Leverkusen double their lead! Beautiful team goal!"
[Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-0 SC Freiburg — Rakim Rex 26’]
[40’]
Helpless to stop the Leverkusen dominance, Freiburg found themselves hunkered down in their own half, launching the occasional counter. However, with Charles Aránguiz breaking up passes in the midfield, added with Tah, and Tapsoba in defence, most counters couldn’t even reach Lukas Hradecky in between the sticks.
Their dominance paid dividends just before halfti when Wirtz collected the ball in the centre circle, turning away from Santamaria’s challenge. He played a diagonal pass to Frimpong, who had bombed forward on the overlap. The Dutch right-back controlled it with one touch, driving to the byline.
He looked up for a mont, then whipped in a high cross just past the penalty spot, aid for the players running into the box. As if he had been waiting for the cross, Shick exploded forward, gaining so separation from his two guardians. He jumped into the air, swinging his head at the incoming ball, making a perfect connection.
The ball smashed downward, bouncing on the line, slipping past the lunging glove of Müller. "PATRIK SCHICK!" the comntator scread. "WHAT A FINISH! The Czech striker with a brace, he is on fire today! Leverkusen are cruising with three!"
[Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-0 SC Freiburg — Patrik Schick 42’]
~~~
[59’]
In the second half, Freburg started off with more life playing for pride rather than victory. They managed to stop the Leverkusen midfield trio from indiscriminately going wherever they wanted. Tragedy struck in the 59th when a hasty slide tackle by left-back Christian Günter sent an accelerating Diaby crashing to the ground.
The winger had injured his ankle and had to be substituted for Jamaican Leon Bailey. Rakim took it from the left flank, floating in a dangerous cross instead of going for the goal. The ball curved at a tricky angle, dropping in the area before the back post where Florian Wirtz had drifted unguarded.
The German prodigy struck it first, slotting it into the back of the net, scoring his first goal of the match. "GOOOOOAL!" the comntator roared. "FLORIAN WIRTZ! He extends the lead by four with a Rex connection."
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To Be Continued...
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