It was a tough evening in Leverkusen, which only got tougher as the match progressed. The German champions gave us very few chances on matchday 5 of the UEFA Champions League competition phase, handing us a big 5-0 defeat at the BayArena.

We couldn’t have imagined a worse start. In any case, we kept Leverkusen out in the second minute when we presented the ball to Florian Wirtz on the edge of the penalty area. The Germany international raced through and took a shot, but his well-placed shot was superbly saved by Alex Schlager.

Our relief did not last long as things became precarious again in the sixth minute. A dangerous shot hit Sammy Baidoo on the leg and bounced off his elbow. The referee signaled for a penalty after a few seconds and stuck to his decision after looking at his monitor. Schlager had to tackle Wirtz again, but this time the German genius hit the ball home and gave his team a 1-0 lead (6′).

The German champions kept their foot on the accelerator and made it two from their next set-piece. This time it was Alejandro Grimaldo who curled a free kick from just outside the penalty area into the top corner (11′).

There was one more blow to come in a terrible opening phase, as Karim Konate suddenly went down injured (13′). We are waiting for a diagnosis, but things are not looking good for our striker.

Our goal was met with a constant barrage of pressure from the hosts. Schlager did his best to prevent Xabi Alonso’s side from disappearing from view (with five saves in the first half), but the Austrian international goalkeeper could not keep out a solo effort from Wirtz in the 30th minute. Leverkusen were in full swing and reminded us how they became champions with an undefeated season. Our guys weren’t very good at that pace tonight.

The hosts slowed the pace a bit at the start of the second half, with a quiet opening phase. However, Bayer Leverkusen were not done yet and with around 30 minutes to go they struck again – when Jeremy Frimpong crossed for Patrik Schick, who made it 4-0.

Xabi Alonso made changes, but the German champion’s dominance remained unchanged. Another goal came from substitute Aleix Garcia, who scored from the edge of the penalty area in the 72nd minute to make it 5-0.

In the final phase we had a chance to notice something, with Amar Dedic Matej keeping Kovar on his toes with a fierce drive. However, nothing changed about the disappointing scoreboard.

We had it good in every way. The way Bayer Leverkusen performed today made it difficult to get anything, but the way we played, especially in the first half, was disappointing. You can’t do that in Europe.

Nene for Konate (16′), Bidstrup for Clark (46′), Bajcetic for Gourna-Douath (46′), Guindo for Terzic (46′), Capaldo for Diambou (74′)