Live Commentary
- 91mins
(Aris Salonika) makes a substitution, with Thanasis Prittas coming on for Sergio Koke.
- 90mins
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.
- 87mins
Hanno Balitsch takes the direct free kick.
- 86mins
The ball is crossed by Tranquillo Barnetta.
- 85mins
Tranquillo Barnetta takes the outswinging corner, save by Michail Sifakis.
- 83mins
Corner taken left-footed by Ricardo Faty, Michal Kadlec makes a clearance.
- 83mins
Sergio Koke produces a cross, Stefan Reinartz manages to make a clearance.
- 79mins
Konstatinos Kaznaferis is brought on as a substitute for Antonio Calvo.
- 79mins
Deividas Cesnauskis has a headed effort at goal from deep inside the area missing to the left of the target.
- 78mins
Centre by Sergio Koke, save made by Rene Adler.
- 77mins
Peral Javito produces a cross.
- 74mins
Shot on goal by Peral Javito from just inside the area goes over the target.
- 74mins
Tranquillo Barnetta takes a inswinging corner.
- 73mins
Tranquillo Barnetta takes a shot. Nikos Lazaridis manages to make a clearance.
- 71mins
Garbini Michel takes a shot. Save by Rene Adler.
- 69mins
Outswinging corner taken from the left by-line by Antonio Calvo, clearance by Hanno Balitsch.
- 68mins
Centre by Tranquillo Barnetta, Nikos Lazaridis gets a block in.
- 65mins
Corner taken by Peral Javito from the right by-line.
- 65mins
Peral Javito fouled by Michal Kadlec, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by Kristi Vangeli.
- 64mins
Sidney Sam takes a shot. Save made by Michail Sifakis.
- 62mins
(Bayer Leverkusen) makes a substitution, with Tranquillo Barnetta coming on for Burak Kaplan.
- 61mins
Inswinging corner taken left-footed by Peral Javito played to the near post, Manuel Friedrich manages to make a clearance.
- 61mins
Corner from the left by-line taken by Antonio Calvo, clearance by Stefan Reinartz.
- 61mins
Inswinging corner taken by Peral Javito, clearance made by Manuel Friedrich.
- 60mins
The ball is delivered by Antonio Calvo, Manuel Friedrich manages to make a clearance.
- 59mins
Eren Derdiyok takes a shot. Blocked by Juan Carlos Toja.
- 58mins
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.
- 56mins
Deividas Cesnauskis is brought on as a substitute for Carlos Ruiz.
- 55mins
Outswinging corner taken right-footed by Peral Javito from the right by-line, clearance made by Manuel Friedrich.
- 55mins
Sergio Koke takes a shot. Rene Adler makes a save.
- 54mins
Outswinging corner taken by Burak Kaplan from the left by-line, Kristi Vangeli manages to make a clearance.
- 54mins
Hanno Balitsch fouled by Ricardo Faty, the ref awards a free kick. Arturo Vidal takes the direct free kick.
- 53mins
Outswinging corner taken by Peral Javito.
- 53mins
Peral Javito takes a shot. Clearance made by Hanno Balitsch.
- 52mins
Peral Javito takes a shot. Blocked by Hanno Balitsch.
- 50mins
Burak Kaplan takes a shot. Save by Michail Sifakis.
- 49mins
Peral Javito produces a cross, clearance made by Manuel Friedrich.
- 47mins
Outswinging corner taken from the left by-line by Arturo Vidal.
- 46mins
Sidney Sam delivers the ball, Nikos Lazaridis makes a clearance.
- 46mins
Simon Rolfes is brought on as a substitute for Nicolai Jorgensen. (Bayer Leverkusen) makes a substitution, with Eren Derdiyok coming on for Lars Bender.
- 45mins
Ronaldo Guiaro produces a right-footed shot from inside the area that goes over the bar.
- 45mins
Effort from deep inside the area by Ricardo Faty clears the bar.
- 44mins
Inswinging corner taken right-footed by Antonio Calvo from the left by-line, Rene Adler makes a save.
- 43mins
Free kick taken by Kristi Vangeli.
- 39mins
Foul by Manuel Friedrich on Sergio Koke, free kick awarded. Garbini Michel takes the direct free kick.
- 39mins
Nicolai Jorgensen delivers the ball, blocked by Juan Carlos Toja.
- 38mins
Lars Bender sends in a cross, Ronaldo Guiaro makes a clearance.
- 38mins
Unfair challenge on Sidney Sam by Antonio Calvo results in a free kick. Hanno Balitsch takes the direct free kick.
- 37mins
Hanno Balitsch fouled by Antonio Calvo, the ref awards a free kick. Manuel Friedrich takes the free kick.
- 35mins
Sidney Sam sends in a cross, save by Michail Sifakis.
- 34mins
Corner taken by Sidney Sam from the left by-line.
- 34mins
Burak Kaplan produces a cross, Juan Carlos Toja manages to make a clearance.
- 32mins
Sidney Sam takes the inswinging corner, clearance by Juan Carlos Toja.
- 30mins
Right-footed shot by Carlos Ruiz went wide left of the net.
- 29mins
Shot from outside the penalty box by Nicolai Jorgensen goes wide right of the goal.
- 26mins
Arturo Vidal produces a drilled left-footed shot from 20 yards.
- 22mins
The free kick is delivered left-footed by Sidney Sam from own half.
- 17mins
Free kick awarded for a foul by Arturo Vidal on Sergio Koke. Sergio Koke takes the free kick.
- 16mins
Inswinging corner taken by Antonio Calvo, Rene Adler makes a save.
- 15mins
Shot from long distance by Sergio Koke goes wide of the left-hand upright.
- 14mins
Burak Kaplan takes a shot.
- 13mins
The ball is swung over by Antonio Calvo.
- 12mins
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Arturo Vidal by Antonio Calvo. Direct free kick taken by Manuel Friedrich.
- 12mins
Sergio Koke takes a inswinging corner.
- 11mins
Antonio Calvo takes a shot. Rene Adler makes a save.
- 9mins
Direct free kick taken by Garbini Michel.
- 8mins
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.
- 6mins
Sidney Sam has an effort from just inside the box that misses to the left of the target.
- 5mins
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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