In the 1:2 against Karlsruher SC, Bayer Leverkusen failed above all in themselves. Afterwards, coach Gerardo Seoane criticised in particular his team’s failure to make the most of their chances.
20:8: That was the balance of goals scored in the match between Bayer Leverkusen and Karlsruher SC – more than twice as many were scored by the Werkself, who were defeated in the end. One of the reasons why it came to this was the Seoane team’s poor use of chances, which was also a shortcoming in the 2-2 derby draw with 1. FC Köln.
“Efficiency and determination” in front of goal is missing
The coach spoke openly of the problems in the run-up to the game, his team having gone into the match without a genuine number 9 after all. “It was a different way of playing due to the changed statics of the team without a fixed centre forward, the team needed a moment to find itself,” the Swiss revealed at the press conference afterwards. But even if the “course of the game was not ideal” for Leverkusen, the coach had to admit after numerous good chances: “We feel we can score five, six goals more in the last two games.” In the end, there was “simply a lack of efficiency and determination”.
Two players also lacked crucial components in the second round of the DFB Cup: Firstly, goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, who fatally played the ball into the feet of Kyoung-Rok Choi after around an hour, thus inviting the Karlsruhe player to score the winning goal. On the other hand, the 16-year-old striker Iker Bravo. The youngest Bayer professional of all time, he shot over the empty goal just after his substitution in the final phase – and again from a promising position seconds before the final whistle.
Protection for Hradecky and hope for Bravo
Coach Seoane didn’t really want to blame either player. Hradecky, as an experienced player himself, knew “that he made the wrong decision at that moment, that he should have solved the situation differently. He misjudged it.” The 31-year-old Finn now feels responsible, of course, told his coach, who also recalled, however, that his goalkeeper had already held on to many points for the team.
Overall, Seoane was “almost more worried” about Bravo than Hradecky. After all, the joker had had two great chances to score. Given the differences between the two in terms of age (15 years) and, above all, experience, Seoane hoped that debutant Bravo (“he could have decided the game”) would not have too many sleepless nights – even if one or two would certainly occur.
Wirtz was not at 100 per cent
Leverkusen’s coach did have one more general point of criticism at the end. The absence of Florian Wirtz, who had been ill for the last two days and was unable to train, and Kerem Demirbay (lack of “mental freshness”) from the starting eleven should not have led to Leverkusen’s elimination given their broad squad.