Bayer 04 Leverkusen prevails against Qarabag Agdam in the Europa League. Attacker Patrik Schick saves the Werkself at the last second with his goals.
It was an evening that no one in Leverkusen will soon forget: Bayer 04 saved themselves into the quarter-finals of the Europa League against Qarabag Agdam at the last second on Thursday (March 14, 2024). The Werkself narrowly prevailed 3-2 (0-0) and can still hope for a title in international competition. Bayer were also 2-0 down in the first leg – and ended up drawing 2-2.
Leverkusen – Qarabag arrow right Europa League, round of 16 arrow right
Substitute attacker Patrik Schick scored two goals in stoppage time on Thursday evening, saving his team from their first defeat of the season.
“I’m very happy. This isn’t a coincidence, it’s happened four or five times this season. We have an incredible team spirit,” said Schick.
Iglesias doesn’t hit the goal
Leverkusen started the game extremely dominantly. Bayer attacker Borja Iglesias had four promising shots in the first eight minutes, but each lacked the necessary precision.
In contrast to the first leg, when a 2-0 deficit almost resulted in the first defeat of the season, coach Alonso decided not to rotate the team extensively.
That initially paid off because the Werkself didn’t need any time to find their way into the game. However, the accuracy in the finish also left a lot to be desired for the other Leverkusen players. Piero Hincapie (9th) and Amine Adli (10th) also failed in their final attempts in quick succession.
Hofmann has to leave the field injured
As a result, the guests from Azerbaijan got into the game better and the game became more open. Coach Qurban Qurbanov’s team repeatedly tried to achieve success with counterattacks.
The Werkself increasingly had more problems with Qarabag and also had to overcome some tricky situations in the first half. To make matters worse, offensive player Jonas Hofmann had to leave the pitch after almost half an hour due to muscle problems.
Lots of wrong decisions
Bayer 04 also seemed unsteady, the sovereignty of the past few weeks had disappeared. At the beginning of the second half, the Rhinelanders immediately tried to build up pressure again and score the opening goal. But Exequiel Palacios’ shot (48′) also just missed the target.
The Leverkusen team restricted Qarabag again and kept running at him. But Florian Wirtz and Co. made the wrong decisions too often to score goals.
Leadership and red card
And while the Werkself continued to lack determination, Qarabag struck ice cold. Abdellah Zoubir (58th) completed a precise counterattack with a header to make it 1-0 for the team from Azerbaijan.
Qarabag weakened himself silly five minutes later when defender Elvin Cəfərquliyev brought down Jeremie Frimpong on a Leverkusen counterattack. Referee Anthony Taylor recognized this as an emergency brake and showed red (63′).
But Qarabag did not allow this to have a negative influence, on the contrary. Just four minutes later, Juninho made it 2-0 for the guests from close range (67th).
Frimpong connects
As has often been the case this season, the deficit released Bayer 04’s strength. After a cross from substitute Alejandro Grimaldo, Frimpong made it 1-2 (72′).
There was a game after a goal, the Werkself tried everything again to equalize – and attacker Patrik, like in the first leg, scored the 2-2 in the last minute (90th +3). But that wasn’t enough: just four minutes later, Schick scored with a header to make it 3-2 (90+7) and sent the entire stadium in Leverkusen into ecstasy.