Bayer Leverkusen again suffered a damper on Sunday. Three days after the Young Boys’ elimination in the Europa League, Peter Bosz’s team lost 1-2 in the Bundesliga against SC Freiburg. Because of the defeat, a place in the top four also gets further away for Bayer. In December, Leverkusen was still second in the Bundesliga with only one defeat and two points behind Bayern Munich. The team now occupies sixth place, trailing Bayern by fifteen points and losing six in total.
Niklas Lomb was sacrificed by Bosz in favor of Lennart Grill. Lomb was the replacement for the injured Lukas Hradecky in recent weeks, but he was unable to convince. Daley Sinkgraven and Jeremie Frimpong sat next to Bosz for the home team, while Guus Til had to watch the visitors. Timothy Fosu-Mensah was at the kick-off at Bayer, but dropped out injured just before half time. Frimpong came in after 67 minutes.
Bayer had 68 percent possession in the first half and made nine attempts against only two of the visitors. Bosz’s team only lacked a goal before half time. Five minutes after the interruption, the scoreboard did start moving, but it was Freiburg that struck. After Florian Wirtz lost the ball in midfield, Lucas Höler almost got a free passage from the Bayer players and from his pass Ermedin Demirovic signed for the 0-1 at the penalty spot.
Ten minutes later, Bayer got a second goal against the head and again the defense did not look good. After Demirovic and Vincenzo Grifo had been prepared, the completely detached Höler pushed the ball into Grill’s goal. A good shot from Leon Bailey with the left was too powerful for goalkeeper Florian Müller twenty minutes before the end, but the home team was unable to do more.
Despite the lesser results in recent weeks, Bosz’s position is not in danger. Technical director Rudi Völler emphasized this in an interview with Bild am Sonntag. “Peter Bosz is our Plan B”, the German former international answered when asked if he was already thinking of an alternative. Bosz is still the same trainer with which Leverkusen took the lead in the Bundesliga two months ago, Völler emphasized. “Everyone was enthusiastic about his playing style, he fits the club perfectly.”