Bayer Leverkusen was far from causing an upset in London. Arsenal dominated the match, leaving the Werkself with very few opportunities.
Coach Kasper Hjulmand graciously congratulated Mikel Arteta on reaching the quarterfinals before consoling his defeated players. A rampant Arsenal overwhelmed Bayer Leverkusen, crushing their Champions League aspirations.
The German vice-champions were powerless against the relentless Gunners in the Champions League Round of 16 second leg, losing 0-2 (0-1). They will now have to wait even longer for their first appearance in the quarterfinals since 2002.
«It was a completely different game from the first leg. We had big plans. It’s a shame that we went into halftime 0-1 down,» said the exceptional goalkeeper Janis Blaswich after he and his teammates received applause from the traveling fans. He added: «We can still leave this pitch with our heads held high and must be proud of ourselves.»
A week after the 1-1 draw in the first leg, Eberechi Eze’s stunning goal in the 36th minute and Declan Rice’s strike in the 63rd minute shattered Leverkusen’s hopes of a major upset. Title favorites Arsenal prevailed, while former Leverkusen player Kai Havertz moves closer to his ambition of bringing the Champions League trophy to North London for the first time.
Bayer Leverkusen last reached the quarterfinals in 2002, with players like Michael Ballack, Bernd Schneider, and Ulf Kirsten. On that occasion, the Werkself advanced all the way to the final, where they lost 1-2 to Real Madrid. Given their inconsistent league performances, this Champions League encounter against Arsenal might prove to be Leverkusen’s last highlight in the competition for some time.
As clear underdogs, the Rhinelanders aimed to play without pressure at the Emirates Stadium. The burden was on the Gunners, who had marched through Europe undefeated and with fearsome dominance until then. With Havertz, who had prevented a Bayer victory in the first leg with a controversial penalty, initially sidelined, a one-sided contest quickly unfolded.
Despite numerous warnings about Arsenal’s set pieces, considerable danger repeatedly arose from dead-ball situations. It was solely due to Janis Blaswich’s stellar performance that Bayer didn’t immediately fall behind. The goalkeeper made three outstanding saves against Leandro Trossard alone (16th, 29th, 32nd minutes).
The courage that Leverkusen had displayed the previous week was entirely absent this time. Bayer could hardly create any relief; one of their few promising attacks saw Alejandro Grimaldo’s shot (26th minute) blocked. Hjulmand’s team appeared overwhelmed at times, and the best news of the first half was that Eze’s unstoppable power shot from over 20 meters remained the only goal conceded.
Arsenal, who had failed to win for the first time this Champions League season at the BayArena, fired the first warning shots after the break through Trossard (49th minute) and Viktor Gyökeres (52nd minute). However, Leverkusen gradually improved, and Hjulmand brought on Malik Tillman and youngster Montrell Culbreath to inject attacking impetus.
From then on, Leverkusen opened up the game a bit more. However, it seemed Arsenal was determined to stifle any comeback hopes for the Werkself. Jarell Quansah made a crucial clearance in the 62nd minute, but shortly after, Rice intercepted a clearance from Grimaldo and calmly slotted the ball into the corner. After Havertz entered the game in the 70th minute, Bayer took more risks but was repeatedly exposed to Gunners’ counter-attacks. Christian Kofane missed their best chance late in the game (87th minute).