Live Commentary
- 90:41 +0.41
(Aris Salonika) makes a substitution, with Thanasis Prittas coming on for Sergio Koke.
- 89:09
A goal is scored by Arturo Vidal from close range to the bottom right corner of the goal. Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Aris Salonika.Assist by Sidney Sam.
- 86:09
Hanno Balitsch takes the direct free kick.
- 85:02
The ball is crossed by Tranquillo Barnetta.
- 84:05
Tranquillo Barnetta takes the outswinging corner, save by Michail Sifakis.
- 82:55
Corner taken left-footed by Ricardo Faty, Michal Kadlec makes a clearance.
- 82:49
Sergio Koke produces a cross, Stefan Reinartz manages to make a clearance.
- 78:33
Konstatinos Kaznaferis is brought on as a substitute for Antonio Calvo.
- 78:14
Deividas Cesnauskis has a headed effort at goal from deep inside the area missing to the left of the target.
- 77:36
Centre by Sergio Koke, save made by Rene Adler.
- 76:48
Peral Javito produces a cross.
- 73:39
Shot on goal by Peral Javito from just inside the area goes over the target.
- 73:06
Tranquillo Barnetta takes a inswinging corner.
- 72:26
Tranquillo Barnetta takes a shot. Nikos Lazaridis manages to make a clearance.
- 70:16
Garbini Michel takes a shot. Save by Rene Adler.
- 68:39
Outswinging corner taken from the left by-line by Antonio Calvo, clearance by Hanno Balitsch.
- 67:13
Centre by Tranquillo Barnetta, Nikos Lazaridis gets a block in.
- 64:49
Corner taken by Peral Javito from the right by-line.
- 64:06
Peral Javito fouled by Michal Kadlec, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by Kristi Vangeli.
- 63:19
Sidney Sam takes a shot. Save made by Michail Sifakis.
- 62:00
(Bayer Leverkusen) makes a substitution, with Tranquillo Barnetta coming on for Burak Kaplan.
- 60:54
Inswinging corner taken left-footed by Peral Javito played to the near post, Manuel Friedrich manages to make a clearance.
- 60:31
Corner from the left by-line taken by Antonio Calvo, clearance by Stefan Reinartz.
- 60:21
Inswinging corner taken by Peral Javito, clearance made by Manuel Friedrich.
- 59:55
The ball is delivered by Antonio Calvo, Manuel Friedrich manages to make a clearance.
- 59:00
Eren Derdiyok takes a shot. Blocked by Juan Carlos Toja.
- 57:21
Free kick awarded for a foul by Nikos Lazaridis on Sidney Sam. Direct strike on goal from the free kick comes in from Michal Kadlec.
- 55:57
Deividas Cesnauskis is brought on as a substitute for Carlos Ruiz.
- 54:58
Outswinging corner taken right-footed by Peral Javito from the right by-line, clearance made by Manuel Friedrich.
- 54:44
Sergio Koke takes a shot. Rene Adler makes a save.
- 53:41
Outswinging corner taken by Burak Kaplan from the left by-line, Kristi Vangeli manages to make a clearance.
- 53:04
Hanno Balitsch fouled by Ricardo Faty, the ref awards a free kick. Arturo Vidal takes the direct free kick.
- 52:25
Outswinging corner taken by Peral Javito.
- 52:14
Peral Javito takes a shot. Clearance made by Hanno Balitsch.
- 51:30
Peral Javito takes a shot. Blocked by Hanno Balitsch.
- 49:07
Burak Kaplan takes a shot. Save by Michail Sifakis.
- 48:22
Peral Javito produces a cross, clearance made by Manuel Friedrich.
- 46:09 +1.09
Outswinging corner taken from the left by-line by Arturo Vidal.
- 46:00 +1.00
Sidney Sam delivers the ball, Nikos Lazaridis makes a clearance.
- 45:01
Simon Rolfes is brought on as a substitute for Nicolai Jorgensen. (Bayer Leverkusen) makes a substitution, with Eren Derdiyok coming on for Lars Bender.
- 44:15
Ronaldo Guiaro produces a right-footed shot from inside the area that goes over the bar.
- 44:15
Effort from deep inside the area by Ricardo Faty clears the bar.
- 44:00
Inswinging corner taken right-footed by Antonio Calvo from the left by-line, Rene Adler makes a save.
- 42:52
Free kick taken by Kristi Vangeli.
- 38:28
Foul by Manuel Friedrich on Sergio Koke, free kick awarded. Garbini Michel takes the direct free kick.
- 38:16
Nicolai Jorgensen delivers the ball, blocked by Juan Carlos Toja.
- 37:42
Lars Bender sends in a cross, Ronaldo Guiaro makes a clearance.
- 37:03
Unfair challenge on Sidney Sam by Antonio Calvo results in a free kick. Hanno Balitsch takes the direct free kick.
- 36:38
Hanno Balitsch fouled by Antonio Calvo, the ref awards a free kick. Manuel Friedrich takes the free kick.
- 34:26
Sidney Sam sends in a cross, save by Michail Sifakis.
- 33:42
Corner taken by Sidney Sam from the left by-line.
- 33:37
Burak Kaplan produces a cross, Juan Carlos Toja manages to make a clearance.
- 31:58
Sidney Sam takes the inswinging corner, clearance by Juan Carlos Toja.
- 29:44
Right-footed shot by Carlos Ruiz went wide left of the net.
- 28:21
Shot from outside the penalty box by Nicolai Jorgensen goes wide right of the goal.
- 25:13
Arturo Vidal produces a drilled left-footed shot from 20 yards.
- 21:41
The free kick is delivered left-footed by Sidney Sam from own half.
- 16:34
Free kick awarded for a foul by Arturo Vidal on Sergio Koke. Sergio Koke takes the free kick.
- 15:03
Inswinging corner taken by Antonio Calvo, Rene Adler makes a save.
- 14:45
Shot from long distance by Sergio Koke goes wide of the left-hand upright.
- 13:39
Burak Kaplan takes a shot.
- 12:54
The ball is swung over by Antonio Calvo.
- 11:57
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Arturo Vidal by Antonio Calvo. Direct free kick taken by Manuel Friedrich.
- 11:12
Sergio Koke takes a inswinging corner.
- 10:56
Antonio Calvo takes a shot. Rene Adler makes a save.
- 8:44
Direct free kick taken by Garbini Michel.
- 7:02
Garbini Michel challenges Sidney Sam unfairly and gives away a free kick. The free kick is swung in right-footed by Sidney Sam, clearance by Michail Sifakis.
- 5:31
Sidney Sam has an effort from just inside the box that misses to the left of the target.
- 4:22
Antonio Calvo produces a cross, Manuel Friedrich gets a block in.
The game gets underway.
The ref blows to signal half-time.
The referee gets the second half underway.
The referee blows his whistle to end the game.
Match Preview
Reinartz issues Leverkusen rallying call Bayer Leverkusen defender Stefan Reinartz has called on his team to produce fireworks on the pitch when they bid to strengthen their position at the top of Europa League Group B against Aris Salonika on Thursday. The Germans were held to a turgid goalless draw in Greece two weeks ago, which left Bayer a point clear of their opponents in pole position in the pool. Victory at the BayArena would put Jupp Heynckes' side within touching distance of the next round, and Reinartz wants a better attacking display than they offered in the reverse fixture. "In Salonika there were fireworks before the game but not on the pitch," he said, referring to the atmosphere at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium. "In Leverkusen, we want to do it the other way around." Heynckes has called on his team to take the game to the Greeks, who have lost their only away match in the group so far, 2-1 at Rosenborg. "We have to play with tempo, get the ball out wide and pressure our opponents into making mistakes," he said. Bayer have been boosted by the return to training of winger Renato Augusto, who returned from Brazil at the weekend where he had been recovering from a knee injury, and Gonzalo Castro, who is back after a hamstring problem. Tomorrow's game is likely to come too early for both, though. Midfielder Michael Ballack, striker Stefan Kiessling and defender Sami Hyypia remain long-term injury victims. Aris ended a two-game losing run in the Super League with a 2-0 win over Atromitos last time out. They have scored just two goals in four away league games so far this term, and a mere five in eight in total. Indeed they have failed to score in three of their last four matches in all competitions, suggesting the Bayer backline is unlikely to be in for an especially busy night. Leverkusen are themselves, though, without a win in their last two home games, a run which has left them seven points adrift of Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Bayer Leverkusen
Aris Salonika
- Rene Adler
- Hanno Balitsch
- Manuel Friedrich
- Stefan Reinartz
- Michal Kadlec
- Sidney Sam
- Lars Bender
- Arturo Vidal
- Burak Kaplan
- Patrick Helmes
- Nicolai Jorgensen
- SUBS
- Benedikt Fernandez
- Daniel Schwaab
- Simon Rolfes
- Tranquillo Barnetta
- Soares Renato Augusto
- Domagoj Vida
- Eren Derdiyok
Home
Away
- Michail Sifakis
- Kristi Vangeli
- Nikos Lazaridis
- Garbini Michel
- Peral Javito
- Ricardo Faty
- Juan Carlos Toja
- Antonio Calvo
- Ronaldo Guiaro
- Sergio Koke
- Carlos Ruiz
- SUBS
- Markos Vellidis
- Darcy Neto
- Lozano Farran Oriol
- Konstatinos Kaznaferis
- Costas Mendrinos
- Deividas Cesnauskis
- Thanasis Prittas
Match Report
Germans edge closer Leverkusen took a big step to reaching the knockout stages of the Europa League by collecting a 1-0 home win against Aris. After the two teams played a scoreless draw in game day three in Greece, Arturo Vidal scored the only goal of the game in the 90th minute to secure a win for the Germans. The victory moves Leverkusen on to eight points in Group B, while Aris remain on four points. The Greeks had more ball possession in the early stages of the contest but the first chance of the game came after Leverkusen lost a ball in the midfield in the 11th minute. Aris' Carlos Ruiz stole a ball from Stefan Reinartz and passed to Toni Calvo, who saw that Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler was a bit too far off his line. Calvo tried a 45-yard shot but the German international got back to tip the attempt over the crossbar. Leverkusen failed to create many chances against the stubborn Greeks but came close after 26 minutes when Vidal's blast from 28 yards struck the centre of the crossbar. The hosts had the next scoring opportunity three minutes before the break but Burak Kaplan's looping shot went just over from a tight angle. Adler made a fine save to deny Juan Carlos Toja from long range in the 44th minute to send the teams into the break deadlocked at 0-0. The visitors nearly took the lead six minutes after the break when Javito beat the offside trap but could not find a way past Adler, who denied Deividas Cesnauskis one-on-one on the hour. Leverkusen struggled to gain control of the proceedings, although they did have a chance in the 73rd minute with Aris keeper Michalis Sifakis saving Tranquillo Barnetta's deflected shot on a counter-attack. But Aris continued to pressure the hosts, with Javito's shot going just over the bar a minute later. Leverkusen pushed forward looking for the winner and finally got their reward as the game entered the 90th minute. Simon Rolfes fed Sidney Sam, whose ball into the box was deflected by Sifakis directly to Vidal, who shot through the legs of Aris midfielder Michel and into the net. Next up for Leverkusen is a trip to Rosenborg on December 1, while Aris face a testing trip to Atletico Madrid.
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