Leverkusen (Reuters)
Bayer Leverkusen returned to the “right track” in the Champions League, with a 5-0 victory over its guest Salzburg, thanks to Florian Wirtz’s “double”.
Thus, Leverkusen returns to the path of victories, after losing 4-0 to Liverpool, and drawing 1-1 with Brest, raising its score to 10 points after 5 rounds, while Salzburg’s score freezes at three points, after suffering its fourth defeat in 5 matches.
Leverkusen, who lost 4-0 to Liverpool in the last round, scored early thanks to a penalty kick scored by Wirtz in the eighth minute, before Alejandro Germaldo doubled his team’s lead from a free kick three minutes later.
Half an hour later, Wirtz scored his second goal to make the score 3-0, before Patrik Schick scored the fourth goal, 16 minutes after the end of the break, before Alex Garcia concluded the scoring 18 minutes before the end of regular time. Leverkusen was able to expand the gap in the first half, as it had no difficulty reaching Salzburg’s penalty area.
Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich said: “We played aggressively offensively from the beginning. We wanted to have a strong start, and we gave a great performance.”
Only two minutes after the start of the match, Wirtz threatened the visiting team’s goal with a powerful shot that the goalkeeper diverted outside the field, but Leverkusen needed a penalty kick to open the scoring after Salzburg’s Samson Baidou touched the ball with his hand inside the area, and Wirtz succeeded in scoring from the penalty mark.
Wirtz was subjected to strong interference outside the area, as a result of which he received a free kick, which Grimaldo was able to shoot into the net. Wirtz then scored his fifth goal in five matches in the competition, when he received a pass from Grimaldo on the edge of the penalty area, before evading two defenders and firing a low shot into the net.
The Salzburg goalkeeper blocked attempts from Grimaldo, Jeremy Frimpong and Granit Xhaka.
Leverkusen’s performance declined somewhat in the second half, but they had little difficulty in threatening the opponent’s goal, and Frimpong played a wonderful pass inside the penalty area, and Cech converted it into the goal from close range.
Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso made a number of substitutions, including introducing Alex Garcia, who took advantage of Wirtz’s cross to fire a powerful shot to conclude the scoring.
Wirtz, who was a constant source of danger throughout the match, received a warm ovation from the crowd and was chosen as the best player in the match.
The player said: “I am happy to reward myself by scoring two goals and being the man of the match, but I know that the players on the field helped me a lot, and I am grateful for that.”
In the next round, Leverkusen will play against its guest Inter Milan, while Salzburg will host Paris Saint-Germain.
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