Can Leverkusen at least win on the international stage?
While the cards are being reshuffled in the top division of boxing, the top division of football is finally getting down to business. It is now more than 20 years since the Champions League final was Bayer 04 Leverkusen against Real Madrid. The Werkself was the better team against the Galacticos around Zidane, Raul and Roberto Carlos, but was unlucky to lose 1:2.
Since then, the Rhinelanders have only reached the last 16 of the top flight, most recently in the 16/17 season, and the last time they took part in the CL, in the 19/20 season, they failed to reach the group stage.
Now the Leverkusen team wants to reach at least the knockout round again. The problem: The Werkself is in crisis, has already been eliminated from the DFB Cup and is in the relegation zone in the Bundesliga. Can they turn things around internationally?
Despite this, the visitors are favourites for Bruges vs. Leverkusen and the odds are in the 2.00 range for their victory. The Bayer fans will be hoping that Seoane’s team will show a completely different face on the international stage than on the domestic stage.
In the league, they lost four of their first five games and are in the bottom third of the table. Most recently, they lost 3-2 to current leaders SC Freiburg despite a passable performance. Can the Werkself turn things around in the Champions League? Otherwise, the air could also become very thin for the popular and meticulous coach Gerardo Seoane.
Brugge have entered the Champions League as Belgian champions and find themselves in a group with FC Porto and Atletico Madrid. Despite their status as underdogs, the Belgians can be expected to do well, even though they have never advanced beyond the group stage of Europe’s biggest club competition in their history.
Bruges vs. Leverkusen offers lucrative betting odds on the home side, who are underdogs on paper but still fancy their chances against the struggling Bundesliga side. Kick-off for the match at the Jan Breydel Stadium is at 21:00 on Wednesday evening.
Bruges – statistics & current form
18 league titles and eleven cup victories are an impressive record. Nationally, Brugge is one of the absolute top addresses in Belgium. Internationally, however, the results look far less pleasing. The big successes all date back to the last millennium, when they even made it to the final of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup. In 2015, the Belgians at least made it to the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Market value of the hosts significantly lower
With a market value of just under 155 million, the home side’s squad is more than 300 million below that of the visitors. The main reason for the underdog status of the Belgians in Brugge vs Leverkusen. A bet on the reigning Belgian champions would only make sense if you believe in a continuing crisis of form for Leverkusen.
For Brugge is quite capable of exploiting the current weakness of last year’s Bundesliga third-placed team. Most recently, they won four times in a row in the league and scored twelve goals in the process. A top record that has catapulted the Belgians very close to the top of the domestic Jupiler League.
With Roman Yaremchuk, Brugge also strengthened their attack during the week. The newcomer also got on the scoresheet in the 4-0 win against Cercle in the city duel at the weekend. So the home side seems ready for the visitors. They are also the only Belgian club in Champions League history to have ever defeated a German team.
In 24 games, there have been 18 defeats for the Belgian clubs, five draws and Club Brugge’s victory against Leipzig last season. A good omen for the duel with Leverkusen? Predicting the hosts in the clash between Brugge and Leverkusen seems a bit risky, despite their good form.
Predicted line-up of Brugge:
Mignolet – Clinton, Mechele, Sylla – Skov Olsen, C. Nielsen, Odoi, Vanaken, Meijer – Jutgla, Sowah
Last matches played by Bruges:
Jupiler Liga
03/09/2022 – Club Brugge 4 – 0 Cercle Brugge
27/08/2022 – RSC Charleroi 1 – 3 Club Brugge
21/08/2022 – Club Brugge 2 – 1 KV Kortrijk
14/08/2022 – Oud-Heverlee Leuven 0 – 3 Club Brugge
06/08/2022 – Club Brugge 1 – 1 SV Zulte Waregem
Leverkusen – Statistics & current form
Mamma mia Bayer 04! Before the season, the Werkself were still crowned Bayern’s second most likely rivals, but they experienced the worst possible start to the season. Four defeats in five league games and the embarrassing cup defeat against the third division team Elversberg.
The fact that the forecast for Bruges vs. Leverkusen still leans in the direction of the visitors is solely due to the top quality of the Bayer squad and the many good approaches that the team of Swiss coach Seoane has brought to the pitch in the games so far. If Leverkusen have a good day, they are clear favourites in Belgium.
Only nostalgics remember the last opening victory away from home
But that happens relatively rarely lately. Should Bayer also stumble in the CL, things will start to get tight even for coach Seoane, who is held in high esteem by the bosses. Incidentally, Bayer’s last victory in the first away game of a new Champions League season was even longer ago than their last appearance in the final. In September 2001, they won 1-0 in Lyon. Since then, there have been eight defeats and one draw away from home. From Leverkusen’s point of view, it’s time to change that quickly.
And despite the current crisis, Bayer 04 are favourites in Belgium. Because with Patrik Schick they have one of the best strikers in Europe. He will be especially eager to score his first Champions League goal ever on Wednesday. It’s not a bad idea to bet on a goal by the man from the Czech Republic at Brugge vs.
World-class winger Moussa Diaby will probably set him up with a few chances. The Frenchman has already collected 16 scorer points on the international stage. And in addition, the giant talent Callum Hudson Odoi now also acts for the Werkself. The attacker was loaned out by Chelsea FC shortly before the end of the transfer period. The list of strong players could go on and on.
However, Leverkusen have only been able to get some of their horsepower on the road lately. The last defeat in the league against SC Freiburg is symbolic of the season so far, because the Bayer team should have scored here as well. But they simply miss far too many chances up front and regularly make fatal mistakes at the back. Does the Champions League anthem revive the Bayer players and make them perform at their best? Then Bruges vs. Leverkusen invites you to bet on the visitors.
Predicted Leverkusen line-up:
Hradecky – Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba – Frimpong, Andrich, Sinkgraven, Palacios, Demirbay – Diaby, Schick
Last matches played by Leverkusen:
Bundesliga
03/09/2022 – Bayer Leverkusen 2 – 3 SC Freiburg
27/08/2022 – Mainz 05 0 – 3 Bayer Leverkusen
20/08/2022 – Bayer Leverkusen 0 – 3 Hoffenheim
13/08/2022 – Bayer Leverkusen 1 – 2 Augsburg
06/08/2022 – Borussia Dortmund 1 – 0 Bayer Leverkusen
Bruges – Leverkusen Direct comparison / H2H balance
Once before, the 18-time Belgian champions and former DFB Cup winners Bayer 04 Leverkusen have faced each other in a competitive match. In the 2006/07 season, the Europa League was still called the UEFA Cup and they drew 1-1 in a group match.
Brugge – Leverkusen Tip
The Werkself travels to Bruges crisis-ridden and rather unsettled. The games in the long-awaited return to Europe’s top flight were supposed to be accompanied by a festive mood. Now the pressure is at maximum for the visitors, while the home side can play freely.
All in all, betting on Bruges vs. Leverkusen is still too risky. Leverkusen can finally wake up at any time and start to turn their sometimes good performances into results. Whether that will happen against Brugge on Wednesday, however, is anything but certain, so we don’t want to place a final bet on the visitors either. Instead, we opt for the “Both score” option.
Leverkusen are too unsettled to travel to Bruges as clear favourites, but the hosts lack the quality to put the Bundesliga team in their place. Since there is no clear tendency, we opt for the option that both sides will score at least one goal.
Brugge have scored often recently and have the home crowd behind them. Leverkusen’s clear strength is their attack and at the same time they are always good for a goal at the back. We invest four units in the “both score” option.
