Bayer Leverkusen thought they were already on the winning track in Cologne, led 2-0 at the break – and still felt like the losers after the final whistle.
“When you only play 2:2 in a derby after 2:0, it feels like a defeat,” Lukas Hradecky told “DAZN” after the final whistle and had no real explanation for how that could happen: “I don’t know. We just switch off, lose our heads in the second half – and Cologne make a good comeback,” the goalkeeper looked back. But it was not lost on him either that his teammates had missed numerous chances. “We had a thousand counter-attacking chances,” said Hradecky exaggeratedly, noting not without wistfulness that Cologne would probably not have come back if Bayer had scored 3-0.
For Robert Andrich it was clear that “we have to play our counterattacks better”: “We don’t make the 3:0 because we play too sloppy in certain situations. That’s how we let the opponent in the game. It was just a matter of time.”
“It’s incredibly unfortunate that we played so carelessly in the first half. “
GERARDO SEOANE
Coach Gerardo Seoane was also annoyed by the poor chance-taking. “Above all, it’s very annoying that we didn’t score from the many chances we had. It’s a great pity that we played so carelessly in the first half. That would have been the decision,” the Swiss noted, before analysing the game quite soberly: “In the second half, we didn’t have those ball conquests any more. We didn’t manage football-wise to have more possession and control the game more.”
However, the coach evaded the question of whether his tactical decision to bring on the defensive-minded Edmond Tapsoba and Exequiel Palacios for the attacking Moussa Diaby and Florian Wirtz at 2-1 was a wrong one. Seoane merely referred to the injury misfortune that had befallen Bayer – and that was not to be underestimated. Karim Bellarabi had to leave before half-time with muscular problems, Piero Hincapie stayed out at half-time due to indisposition, before Patrik Schick also left the pitch with an injury shortly before the end.
