Bayer Leverkusen played the long game as they left it late to beat Inter 1-0 at the BayArena and improve their chances of qualifying for the round of 16.
Not a lot to write home about in the first half. Leverkusen naturally saw a lot more of the ball than the hosts and had the best chance of the opening 45. Early on, a cross was played into the Inter box which Nathan Tella hit on the volley only to then hit the crossbar. Apart from that, neither side was able to challenge Yann Sommer or Matej Kovar.
The same could be said for the second half as well as Leverkusen dominated the ball but struggled to break down the Inter defence. However, Leverkusen’s patience paid off as in the 90th minute, in true Leverkusen style, Nordi Mukiele converted the shot after the ball bounced around in the box, not only to score his first game for Leverkusen but scored the first goal that Inter conceded in the league phase.
The positive from this game for Leverkusen is that they held firm and Inter’s attackers such as Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez were non-existent for the whole game and they managed to hold the Italian champions to zero shots on target. With die Werkself having struggled defensively a lot this season, they will take big confidence in the defensive side of this performance.
Away from the goal, on the attacking front, the lack of a true striker was prevalent. Sometimes in games like this, you want to lump the ball up to the striker and this will provide an alternative option, but Leverkusen did not have that and looked rather one-dimensional in their attacking build-up, which played into Inter’s hands for the majority of the game.
Overall, Leverkusen move into second in the league phase table, behind only Liverpool. They can now turn their attention on the Bundesliga as they look to end their highly successful year on a high and continue their chase down of Bayern Munich.
Bayer Leverkusen:
Matej Kovar (5), Nordi Mukiele (6), Edmond Tapsoba (5), Jonathan Tah (5), Piero Hincapié (5), Jeremie Frimpong (5), Exequiel Palacios (5), Granit Xhaka (5), Alejandro Grimaldo (5), Florian Wirtz (5), Nathan Tella (5)
Others: Martin Terrier (-)
GGFN | Jack Meenan
