Even though Atalanta were the more dominant team with more game shares from the start, Leverkusen initially had the better chances. Charles Aránguiz put a free kick from 20 meters on the left inside post (8th), from where the ball bounced out again. Only three minutes later, the Chilean rewarded himself at the second attempt and scored the 1-0 after a pass by Florian Wirtz from 16 meters.
After a good 20 minutes, the home side were really there, Rafael Toloi failed from the edge of the box to Lukas Hradecky (20th) – a little later the bell rang in the Finn’s box.
Luís Muriel and Ruslan Malinovsky played a strong one-two after Jeremy Frimpong lost possession, as a result of which the Ukrainian finished on the left side of the box and hit the far post (23′). Less than two minutes later, both offensive players struck again, but with reversed roles. The Ukrainian put the left side of the box through to Muriel, who coldly hit the right corner (25′).
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Shortly before the break, Leverkusen was able to thank Hradecky again for not having to go into half-time from a greater deficit. Teun Koopmeiners took aim from the second row but was unable to get past the Finn (42′).
The second half started with another setback for the Werkself. At the end of a strong combination, Malinovsky again crossed for Muriel, who didn’t give Hradecky a chance from 15 meters out (49′). In this phase, Bayer had great problems defending the Italians and repeatedly ran into dangerous counterattacks by the home side.
After Freuler was sent into the run, the Swiss put Muriel in the limelight again, but this time he found his champion in Hradecky (56th). Just four minutes later, the Finn had to show good reflexes again when Hans Hateboer shot.
Just as a game was developing towards a goal, Leverkusen scored a goal. Newly-substituted Odilon Kossounou put the ball into the opponent’s half, where Amine Adli was able to hold the ball and put Moussa Diaby in the limelight. The Frenchman netted from 16 yards in the right-hand position, freezing on the bottom left (63′).
The goal ensured that Leverkusen regained more security and were more compact as a result. Bergamo, on the other hand, did not take any more risks in order not to jeopardize the lead for the second leg. So it stayed at 3:2.
The voices of the game
Luis Muriel (Atalanta Bergamo): “For me personally it was a great game after a difficult period with injury. The fans were amazing – they are so important to us. It was a great night.”
Gian Piero Gasperini (Trainer Atalanta Bergamo): “A lot of things worked well tonight. We go into the second leg knowing we can draw or win – a great performance. The fans today were incredible. I’m very happy with our reaction to being 1-0 down. “
Gerardo Seoane (Bayer 04 Leverkusen manager): “A wild ride, a roller coaster ride of emotions. We started well, had a lot of control, good chances and deservedly took the lead. Atalanta never let up, they were very snappy, very aggressive. In the end we have to be happy that we didn’t get the fourth, Lukas Hradecky saved two or three well. In the end we were a bit happy that we shot the second. So of course everything remains open.”
Jonathan Tah (Bayer 04 Leverkusen): “I don’t think we played a great game, but in a few moments we managed to make the most of the space they gave us. We’re definitely ready for the second leg. We can do this result home game. We have to defend well. At home in Europe we’ve done well so far.”
The tweet about the game
That was noticeable: Atalanta robs Leverkusen of its great strength
Actually, Atalanta Bergamo’s game is as if painted for the counterattacking Bayer Leverkusen – actually. Because the Werkself rarely found themselves in dangerous transition situations against well-established Italians and were thus robbed of their great strength. Atalanta played very concentrated and rarely lost the ball in dangerous positions. And if the ball was lost in forward gear, the counter-protection was usually right. Above all, the fast Moussa Diaby didn’t find his way into the game for long stretches – even if he entered the scorer list late with the not unimportant 2:3.
The stats: 50
The Werkself played their 50th game in the Europa League. This makes Bayer Leverkusen the first German and the 30th team internationally to reach this mark.
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