Providing plenty of stability

Julian Weigl returned to the starting eleven in Leverkusen after serving a one-game suspension and played a key role in earning a point for his side with a strong performance.

It’s often noticeable for the first time how important a player is for their team when they’re not playing. Julian Weigl missed his second Bundesliga game of the season last weekend as he was absent in the home game against FC Augsburg due to a one-game suspension – he was dearly missed in the 2-1 loss due to his influence as a steady hand and his role as a leader. Borussia’s current captain made an immediate return to the starting eleven on Saturday evening, whilst he provided plenty of stability in defensive midfield once again.

“It was very difficult,” Weigl explained following the full-time whistle. “Leverkusen are currently one of the strongest teams in Europe. You basically can’t give them any space. We had to suffer a lot, but we had that necessary bit of luck as they were too inaccurate with their shots.” Weigl was one of the reasons why the hosts struggled to break Borussia down on many occasions. The 28-year-old covered more distance than any other Borussia player with 12.4km, whilst he won 70% of his individual duels and made the most passes for the visitors (40).

Overwhelming feeling of pride

“Of course it would have been good to have had more periods like the final 15 minutes of the first half, where we were more composed because we kept hold of the ball. However, it’s always a case of how much risk you’re willing to take against such a strong opponent. I think that’s an area where we have the most room for improvement, keeping our cool under pressure at difficult moments,” said Weigl, adding: “At the end of the day though, the way we defended leaves me with an overwhelming feeling of pride. Not many people would have backed us to come away from here with a result. The point does us the world of good.”

The Foals will now look to take the positives from the Leverkusen match, especially with another tough task ahead next Saturday with a trip to the Allianz Arena to face Bayern München. “There’s not enough consistency in our performances at the moment. We defended brilliantly as a team against Leverkusen, yet we struggled to control proceedings against Augsburg. Our goal in the second half of the season has to be to show more consistency week on week,” said Weigl.