Double winners Bayer 04 Leverkusen have won their first pre-season game 2:1. Coach Xabi Alonso’s team played convincingly at third-division club Rot-Weiss Essen, but proved to be inefficient at the end
Even though Xabi Alonso had to do without eight core players from the previous double season at Essen’s Hafenstrasse, Bayer 04 already showed a good approach to the seventh-placed team from the previous third division season. However, the Werkself, who were very offensive in the absence of the national team players (Wirtz, Tah, Andrich, Xhaka, Palacios, Grimaldo, Frimpong, Hincapie), held off scoring until the 45th minute when Nathan Tella rounded RWE keeper Jakob Golz after a mistake by Tobias Kraulich and scored from an acute angle.
As fluid as Bayer 04’s combinations were, the Bundesliga side wasted their chances and could have had four or five goals after an hour. But the German champions did not yet display the efficiency and ice-coldness of the previous season.
Of the four new signings, Jeanuel Belocian, Martin Terrier, Andrea Natali and Aleix Garcia, the latter put in the most eye-catching performance. The Spaniard, who together with attacking player Jonas Hofmann formed the double-six in a 3-4-3, gave a first taste of his skills
And not just because he was directly involved in the second goal, as he was in the 1:0, when his precise cross to Patrik Schick landed in the far corner. It was impossible to tell whether the Czech, who was celebrated as the scorer, actually touched the ball, even in slow motion
Bayer practised high pressing, especially before half-time, and won a lot of the ball, but also showed some coordination problems midway through the first half, allowing Essen to repeatedly break free. However, ten training days after the start of preparations, Leverkusen’s performance was quite appealing. Even though RWE managed to score the equalizer through Leonardo Vonic after Bayer had substituted many young players in the last half hour.