Leverkusen 2-0 Celje: Job Done, But Leverkusen Left Five Big Chances Behind
SportSignals Match Desk ยท Football analysis desk ยท
Bayer Leverkusen got the three points. That is the only sentence that matters in a results business. But if you watched this match at the BayArena on Wednesday night and came away fully satisfied, you were not watching the same game I was.
The Basics Were There. The Cutting Edge Was Not.
Leverkusen dominated this match from first whistle to last. Fifty-six per cent of the ball. A hundred and thirty-four attacks to Celje's sixty-seven. Seventeen shots to five. Eight on target to three. They hit the woodwork twice. They created five big chances. They missed all five of them.
The thing is, this is Celje. This is not a side that should be making a Bundesliga title winner work for ninety minutes. When you create five big chances against opposition of this level and convert zero of them from open play, that is a finishing problem. End of.
The first goal came on fifteen minutes and it had nothing to do with Leverkusen's attacking quality. Svit Seslar put through his own net. Credit to Leverkusen for the pressure that caused it, fine. But the second goal did not arrive until the seventy-fourth minute, when Facundo Medina converted with his left foot from a pass by Aleix Garcรญa. That is a long time to be sitting on a one-goal lead against a side from the Slovenian league.
Celje Were No Pushovers in Terms of Effort
Listen, I am not going to pretend Celje were a shambles. They made eighteen interceptions to Leverkusen's nine. They attempted ten crosses and put seven saves on their goalkeeper. Their goalkeeper was their best player, which tells you everything about how the game flowed, but the Celje players competed. They won thirty-eight duels. They fouls were committed at a rate that showed they were at least trying to disrupt the rhythm.
The problem for Celje was simple. They had three big chances and missed all three of them. Two shots on target across the whole match. That is not enough to worry anyone. When you are the smaller side in a two-legged tie or a group stage campaign, you have to take your moments. They did not.
Leverkusen's Substitutions Told a Story
Xabi Alonso made five changes in the second half, which is the kind of rotation you do when the game is comfortable. The problem is it was not fully comfortable at that point. Leverkusen were one own goal to the good at the sixty-minute mark.
Jarell Quansah came on for Lucas Vรกzquez at sixty minutes. Equi Fernรกndez replaced Malik Tillman at sixty-one. Afonso Moreira came on for Martin Terrier at the same time. Christian Kofane replaced Patrik Schick at seventy-one. Eliesse Ben Seghir came on for Moussa Diaby at eighty.
Facundo Medina, who was already on the pitch, scored at seventy-four. So the goal came in among the changes. The thing is, when you bring on five players in quick succession against a side who are hanging in the game, you take a risk with your structure and your momentum. It worked out. Medina scored. But it could have been messier.
The Numbers That Stick Out
Leverkusen put eight accurate crosses in. Celje managed two. The territory and pressure were clear throughout. Leverkusen's dribble success rate was seventy-one per cent compared to Celje's twenty-five per cent. That is a massive gap in technical quality at ground level.
But here is the number that tells the honest story. Five big chances created. Five big chances missed. Leverkusen also hit the woodwork twice. On another night that is four or five goals. Tonight it was two. One of which came off a Celje defender.
The goalkeeper for Celje made seven saves. Seven. Against Leverkusen at home in the Europa League. That is a performance. Give credit where it is due. But Leverkusen's forwards will know that seven saves means they were getting the ball into dangerous areas and then failing to find the corner of the net.
What This Result Means
Three points. Clean sheet. Job done. In the context of a UEFA Europa League campaign, you take the win and you move on. Leverkusen controlled the game, they were the better side by a considerable distance, and they kept a clean sheet. The Celje goalkeeper can feel good about his evening. The Leverkusen forwards probably cannot.
Accountability matters. When you have seventeen shots, hit the woodwork twice, and still only score two goals, one of which was an own goal, that is something a manager has to address. Not in public. Not in a press conference rant. But behind closed doors, the standards have to be held.
The basics were mostly right tonight. The desire to press, the movement, the crossing volume. What was not right was the final moment. The composure in front of goal. That is the hardest thing to coach, but it is also the most important thing in this game. You can dominate all you like. The scoreboard only cares about goals.
The Verdict
Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Celje. Three points. Clean sheet. Comfortable in terms of territorial control. Uncomfortable in terms of finishing. The margin of victory should have been larger, and Leverkusen know it. Facundo Medina and the unfortunate Svit Seslar ended up as the names on the scoresheet. Aleix Garcรญa picked up the assist on the second goal.
Leverkusen move on. Celje go home. That is the result and that is what it was. But if Leverkusen are to go deep in this competition, they will need to be more ruthless. Five big chances missed is five too many. I do not need to say anything more than that.
