Leverkusen at Betis Sevilla: sharing of points among the unbeaten

Four days after the bankruptcy against FC Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen have a courageous performance in the 1: 1 (0: 0) in the Europa League against Betis Sevilla and have a good chance of reaching the last sixteen. The Bundesliga third has successfully defended his lead in Group G with 7 points and can achieve a good starting position with a win in the second leg against the Spaniards with the same number of points. In front of 40,000 spectators at the Estadio Benito Villamarin in Seville, Robert Andrich saved the 1-1 with his goal in the 82nd minute, previously Borja Iglesias (75th) had given the hosts the lead with a converted penalty.

Bayer coach Gerardo Seoane had changed his team to six positions for the 40th European Cup game against a Spanish team and the first against Betis.

In youngster Florian Wirtz, who recently had problems with his abdominal muscles, and Patrik Schick, the top goal scorers initially stayed on the bench, but both were used in the closing stages.

In high summer temperatures in the Andalusian capital, the Bayer team found their way into the game and had good chances of scoring, especially on the wings with the fast outside players Karim Bellarabi and Moussa Diaby.

Lucas Alario only hit the crossbar (11th), Diaby previously forgave after a counterattack.

The table eighth of the Spanish league, who had only lost one of the previous eight competitive games, initially struggled with eight new players in the team and had problems with the pace of Leverkusen, who did not use their chances consistently. Betis also did not use two good opportunities through Aitor Ruibal (24th) after a rebound from Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and Borja Iglesias (42nd).

The hosts corrected the runner's inferiority personally and brought two new forces on the outside positions, which also livened up the offensive game and put the Leverkusen defense and goalkeeper Hradecky under increasing pressure.

In the turbulent final phase, Bayer's right-back Jeremie Frimpong underwent an unfortunate handball, and Borja Iglesias converted the penalty due to video evidence.

But Bayer stayed tuned and won the point thanks to Andrich's deflected shot.