Schmidt delighted with ´important´ victory

Roger Schmidt hailed Bayer Leverkusen’s 4-1 victory over BATE in their opening fixture of Champions League Group E as “vitally important”.

Leverkusen have got off to an indifferent start in the Bundesliga this term, having lost their last two games.

However, they were convincing winners against Belarusian champions BATE at the BayArena on Wednesday courtesy of goals from Admir Mehmedi, Hakan Calhanoglu and full debutant Javier Hernandez.

“It was a very important win for us,” said Schmidt, with Leverkusen now facing the daunting prospects of Roma and defending champions Barcelona.

“We knew that we were the favourites, but such games are not easy. We started brightly in the first 15 minutes and deservedly opened the scoring. 

“Out of the blue, we conceded from a set-piece. But even before the break we created chances, but after the interval our pressing got even better, so we were able to score the other goals and enjoyed a good start.”