Schmidt satisfied with stalemate, lauds Levekusen aggression

Bayer Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt was pleased despite being held at home to top-four rival Borussia Monchengladbach.

Monchengladbach came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw in Leverkusen, as the two sides edged into third and fourth in the Bundesliga respectively – level on 24 points – courtesy of losses to Augsburg (24) and Schalke (23).

Schmidt claimed his men were aggressive – they opened the scoring through Hakan Calhanoglu in the 18th minute – and said he was not disappointed, despite missing the chance to break the backlog for spots inside the UEFA Champions League spots.

Just one point separates third-placed Leverkusen from Hoffenheim, who are seventh.

“We said we would play offensive football and I think we exactly saw this today,” Schmidt said. 

“It’s the 15th matchday and we are still in the third position. 

“We know we have a good team but we also know we would not win every game in this strong league. 

“For sure we could [have] got some more points but all in all I am happy with the performance of my team. 

“Today we saw there are such good teams in the Bundesliga. 

“There is a big battle for the European positions. Borussia Monchengladbach is just a difficult opponent. 

“I am pleased.”

Monchengladbach boss Lucien Favre was also content, and backed up Schmidt’s claims the hosts showed prowess in the front half.

“All in all, 1-1 is OK,” Favre said. 

“At the beginning Leverkusen played very well, they were very attacking and pressed a lot. It was not easy for us to control the game. 

“They were 1-0 in front, [and] after 20, 22 minutes we tried to get more control and got a big chance by Patrick Hermann. 

“Second half we tried to counter-attack  but Leverkusen did very well. 

“They were so aggressive and always passed the ball to Stefan Kiessling. In the end the result was not undeserved.”