Neither of these sides went into matchday four having registered a league phase win, and their shortcomings were abundantly clear in some tentative opening stages. Dodi Lukebakio was the first to have any kind of chance, as he raced onto Richard Rios’ long ball and chipped onto the joint of post and bar, before Leandro Barreiro beat Edmond Tapsoba in the air to head Heorhiy Sudakov’s cross wide of the mark.
Though the play was chaotic, Jose Mourinho’s side continued to have the majority of the chances, and went closest yet when Nicolas Otamendi’s header looped onto the crossbar from a corner.
Defeated just once in the Bundesliga since Kasper Hjulmand took charge, Leverkusen had looked like a different side in Europe, and their fortunes didn’t look ripe for change. They even had perhaps the clearest chance of the half so far when Ibrahim Maza played Ernest Poku through the middle, but the Dutch youth international felt the pressure and toed it wide.
Despite that, Benfica would have surely been the more disappointed to go into the break level, especially when Vangelis Pavlidis somehow couldn’t squeeze his effort past Loic Badé into an open net.
Having already scored 13 competitive goals this season, few would have expected Pavlidis to also miss his next chance, as Mark Flekken stole it away as he tried to dribble past.
Having squandered numerous opportunities throughout, it was perhaps inevitable that they would be made to pay, and Hjulmand’s changes made all the difference.
Patrik Schick was unable to beat Anatoliy Trubin after latching onto Alex Grimaldo’s through pass, but he gratefully received Benfica defender Samuel Dahl’s erroneous header back to him, and nodded past the flailing goalkeeper.
The hosts became increasingly frustrated as they looked desperately for a response, but a wayward Lukébakio hit was as close as they could come during the final exchanges.
It’s a dire situation for Benfica, who are still yet to collect a point in the league phase, and haven’t scored in the competitions since they hosted Qarabağ FK on matchday one. Though Leverkusen were somewhat short on chances, their defensive display on top of the win itself paints a much better picture, alongside their rise into the top 24.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Loic Bade (Bayer Leverkusen)
