Leverkusen’s remarkable rise from the relegation zone under Xabi Alonso means that there are at least four sides vying for sixth place and beyond.
That said, Wolfsburg’s recovery since the turn of the year has been impressive in its own right, and they stifled the visitors’ usually-effective system of counter attacking throughout a close-fought first half.
In particular, the often dynamic Moussa Diaby was well-marshalled by the hosts, who were looking for an immediate recovery from last weekend’s defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach.
With Wolfsburg opting to play cautiously against Die Werkself, neither team managed to break meaningfully into the opposing box. The visitors were territorially dominant, but Wolfsburg were sufficiently equipped to deal with their attack through the pace of Micky van de Ven and Paulo Otavio.
However, more space began to open up for Alonso’s side as the half wore on, and Sardar Azmoun’s deflected shot struck the bar, although the offside flag would likely have been raised had it found the net.
The opening period lacked any sort of cutting edge in the final third, and surprisingly for a Leverkusen team that had 15 goals across their previous five Bundesliga outings, things failed to improve significantly after the break.
Diaby did see a shot saved by Casteels, but it wasn’t until the final 20 minutes of the match that things began to open up. Kerem Demirbay’s creative output had been limited, but he forced a good save with a curling effort, and his wait for a first league strike since September was further lengthened.
Patrick Wimmer's introduction promised to turn the match in Wolfsburg’s favour, and the Austrian strode up the other end to twice test Lukas Hradecky as the match drew to a close. But there was still time for several scares in the Wolfsburg box too, when Amine Adli fired from the edge of the box to draw a decent save from Casteels, ensuring that the two sides would ultimately grind out only the Bundesliga’s 14th goalless draw of 2022/23.
A point apiece was a good representation of tonight’s proceedings, and the two teams’ respective quests to remain at the upper echelons of the table remain rich in defensive prowess.
Having steadied the ship since last weekend’s defeat, Niko Kovac will no doubt be the happier of the two managers, while Xabi Alonso will need his side to rediscover their spark for Thursday’s second leg trip to Royale Union SG in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Sebastiaan Bornauw (Wolfsburg)
