Highlights

Matchday 27

FINAL

BayArena

VfL Bochum 1848

AdliAmine Adli

87'

BonifaceVictor Boniface

60'

26'

PasslackFelix Passlack

GarcíaAleix García

20'

S. Jablonski

BayArena

Full-time

Full-time: Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Bochum

While the visitors posed constant threat on the break, they were ultimately unable to cause the Bayer backline enough problems. The hosts created chances with ease in the latter stages of the second half, seeing them take the lead and have plenty of chances to score a third, before they finally did through Amine Adli.

90'

+ 3

Off two posts!

In the final moments Xhaka hits one from the edge of the box, hitting the inside of the near post and then seeing it roll across the goal line to hit the other post and bounce out.

90'

+ 3

Substitution

Robert Andrich

Exequiel Palacios

90'

+ 2

Important goal

Increasing the deficit to two goals with just minutes to spare looks to have confirmed the victory for Leverkusen, allowing them to keep pace in the title race.

90'

Speed check: The fastest player in the game after 90 minutes

Through high-end camera technology and machine learning, the speed of each player is evaluated in real time. Top speed then means, the fastest measured single frame of a player/game.

Jeremie Agyekum Frimpong36.34km/h

Gerrit Holtmann35.49km/h

Amine Adli34.12km/h

89'

Yellow card

Marc-André Kruska

89'

Substitution

Arthur

Jeremie Frimpong

89'

Substitution

Emiliano Buendía

Victor Boniface

87'

There it is, 3-1!

Bochum lost possession in their search for an equaliser, leading to another Bayer counter. Palacios strode forward, before playing in Adli with a tidy through ball, which only needed a first-time finish.

87'

Yellow card

Myron Boadu

87'

Amine Adli

GOAL!

3:1

Goal probability

Goal probability determines the likelihood that the ball will land in the goal from every position on the pitch. The value is based on large amounts of data from previous years; factors such as shot angle, distance to goal and opponent pressure - as well as mathematical models.

31 %

Shot speed

Shot speed describes the maximum speed in km/h that a ball reaches in a shot on goal. The distance is measured from the location of the shot to the centre of the goal.

88.83 km/h

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

16.24 m

85'

Substitution

Dani de Wit

Ibrahima Sissoko

80'

Offside, almost 3-1!

A sublime Xhaka pass bypasses the Bochum defence, finding Frimpong who squares to Boniface for another simple finish, or so he thought. He was deemed to be offside in the build-up, where he interfered with play.

80'

SituationNo goal

ReviewOffside?

DecisionNo goal

79'

Huge chance for Frimpong!

Another Bayer counter-attack, another chance. García crosses to Frimpong on the far side, but he puts his finish wide of the far post with only Horn to beat.

77'

Chaos at either end

A misplaced Xhaka pass sees Bochum enter the Leverkusen box, but they fail to make it count. The hosts clear to Adli, who then mis-hits his pass to Boniface on the break.

75'

Substitution

Moritz Broschinski

Gerrit Holtmann

75'

Substitution

Myron Boadu

Philipp Hofmann

73'

Mile for mile

Both sides are leaving it all out there. Bochum are searching for a way back into the game, while Leverkusen are working hard to maintain their advantage.

Distance run (km)

92.6

92.4

71'

Substitution

Amine Adli

Patrik Schick

70'

Yellow card

Sebastián Parrilla

70'

Bochum corner

Having had to defend their box for an extended period, the visitors have a corner. It comes to nothing however, and García clears.

64'

Breathing space

After VAR confirmed their goal was valid, Bayer finally have some breathing space between themselves and the visitors, who have caused problems in this half.

61'

SituationGoal

ReviewOffside?

DecisionGoal

Boniface puts Bayer ahead!

García whips in a free-kick from deep on the right-hand side which finds Hincapié at the far post, whose first time pass finds Boniface a couple yards out from an empty net.

60'

Victor Boniface

GOAL!

2:1

Goal probability

84 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

2.92 m

56'

Grimaldo fires over

After a spell of sustained pressure, Grimaldo tries his luck from the outside the area but can't get enough dip on the strike.

53'

Chance on the counter

Bochum break away through Holtmann, who shoves off Frimpong before driving to the area and sliding it to Bero, who shoots straight at Hrádecký, and Leverkusen clear.

49'

Great chance!

A brilliant pass from Hincapié finds Schick inside the area, but with only the 'keeper ahead of him, the Czech striker's touch lets him down and Horn collects.

47'

Early warning

A quick touch and turn allows Boniface to get a shot off, but Horn is equal to it.

46'

We're back!

Xhaka gets the second half underway.

Kick-off!

Half-time

Half-time: Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Bochum

While Leverkusen have had the majority of the ball, they haven't made it count, not creating clear chances and consequently letting Bochum into the game. Bochum's goal was brilliant, and unexpected, but did come from an encouraging phase of play.

43'

End-to-end stuff

A deep free-kick for Bochum is cleared and Leverkusen immediately go up the other end - the visitors manage to suppress the attack, however.

41'

Another before the break?

Will either side find a second goal before the break, or will their searches for a goal go on into the second half?

35'

On the up

xGoals

The xGoals value of a club is calculated from the sum of all goal probabilities (goals and shots on goal) of that team. During a match, it’s easy to see whether the club is performing better than expected (goals > xGoals) - or maybe even higher (xGoals > goals).

The visitors have overtaken Leverkusen in terms of xG, such has been their repsonse to equalising.

xGoals

0.16

0.21

Goals

30'

Game on

Having equalised so quickly, the visitors will have regained confidence, and now have momentum as they chase three points that would push them closer to safety - and dent Leverkusen's title hopes.

30'

Speed check: The fastest player in the game after 30 minutes

Through high-end camera technology and machine learning, the speed of each player is evaluated in real time. Top speed then means, the fastest measured single frame of a player/game.

Jeremie Agyekum Frimpong34.23km/h

Maximilian Wittek32.06km/h

Piero Martin Hincapie Reyna30.71km/h

Passlack with a superb volley to equalise!

Bochum looked to have missed a huge chance when Masouras volleyed straight at Hrádecký from close range, but the rebound found Passlack outside the area who hit a looping volley into the far corner of the net.

26'

Felix Passlack

GOAL!

1:1

Goal probability

6 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

19.21 m

Goal! García opens the scoring

The Spaniard receives a whipped pass from Palacios just outside the area and bends it into the near corner of Horn's goal - brilliant finish!

20'

Aleix García

GOAL!

1:0

Goal probability

9 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

19.46 m

13'

Dominant

Leverkusen have had the majority of the ball, but have just one shot to show for it.

Possession (%)

7129

10'

Frimpong with the first shot

After neat combination play, Frimpong finds himself with a shooting opportunity inside the area - he fires his effort straight at Horn though.

On the front foot

Unsurprisingly, the hosts are on top at the moment. The early stages have been spent in Bochum's defensive third.

First corner

Boniface wins his side the first corner of the game. García swings it in and Bochum manage to clear.

Underway at the BayArena

The ball is rolling here in Leverkusen.

Kick-off!

In the tunnel

The players are lined up and ready to go. We'll be under way very shortly!

Team news - Leverkusen

Xabi Alonso has sprung a surprise by starting both Patrik Schick and Victor Boniface up front. The latter comes into the side for Robert Andrich, with Leverkusen also switching formations from a 4-2-3-1 to what looks to be a 3-4-1-2 today.

Team news - Bochum

Head coach Dieter Hecking has made just one personnel change following the 3-1 home defeat against Eintracht Frankurt on Matchday 26, with Medić dropping to the bench and Holtmann coming into the team. On paper at least, it looks like that will result in a change of formation from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2.

Leverkusen starting XI

Hrádecký (c) - Mukiele, Tah, Hincapié - Frimpong, Xhaka, Palacios, Grimaldo - García - Schick, Boniface

Leverkusen subs

Kovář, Arthur, Natali, Hofmann, Andrich, Buendía, Sarco, Adli, Alajbegovic

Bochum starting XI

Horn - Passlack, Oermann, Ordets, Wittek - Bero, Sissoko, Krauß, Holtmann - Hofmann (c), Masouras

Bochum subs

Drewes, Gamboa, Mašović, Medić, Losilla, De Wit, Pannewig, Boadu, Broschinski

3:17

Watch: The Patrik Schick show

With all 17 of his Bundesliga goals this season coming since Matchday 10, the Leverkusen forward is in the form of his life...

Bochum's good omen

The visitors have enjoyed five away wins in Leverkusen over the years. No other team has managed more than six victories at the BayArena in Bundesliga history.

Aleix García to the fore

With Leverkusen star attacker Florian Wirtz still laid low by injury, the stage is set for Spain international Aleix García to feature once more for the Werkself. The 27-year-old has played in Bayer's last three Bundesliga games while he has five goal involvements in 21 top-flight appearances for this evening's hosts so far this campaign.

Hecking's view on Leverkusen

"Our situation is clear and every game is becoming increasingly important. You have a chance in every match you play, which is something we've shown in recent weeks, as well as in the reverse fixture. We will have to make the most of the moments we get."

Alonso's view on Bochum

"Bochum have played well against good opponents, for example when they came back from 3-0 down against Leipzig to draw 3-3. They've also got important reasons to fight, so we'll have to be ready for that."

State of play

As it stands heading into Matchday 27, Bochum sit 16th in the relegation play-off spot. With tough fixtures at home to Stuttgart and Augsburg following their trip to Leverkusen, survival will not be easy. However, with games against fellow strugglers Union Berlin, Heidenheim and St. Pauli still to come before the season closes, their fate could still very much be in their own hands.

Hecking boosts Bochum spirits

In some welcome news for Bochum fans and players alike, the club have announced a two-year extension for Dieter Hecking's contract in the event that the club stay up this season.

Probable line-ups

As we count down to kick-off, get the latest team news from the BayArena and across the other Matchday 27 fixtures right here!

Leverkusen's winning streak meets Bochum's Friday form

Alonso's men have won their last four games against Bochum, keeping a clean sheet in three of them. Bochum, however, are most successful on Fridays compared to the other days of the week, averaging 1.3 points per game on that day.

It ain't over yet

Despite being six points behind leaders Bayern, there's still every possibility that Leverkusen can catch Vincent Kompany's men and retain their title. For example, in the 2006/07 season, VfB Stuttgart made up a seven-point deficit on Schalke to clinch the Meisterschale.

2:03

Watch: Bochum 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen - previous meeting

Kōji Miyoshi cancelled out Patrik Schick's opener to register a ninth draw in 41 meetings between these sides. Bayer Leverkusen have won this fixture the most times, with 22 victories.

2:03

Watch: Bochum 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt - highlights

Following a shock victory against Bayern on Matchday 25, Bochum slumped to a 3-1 home defeat to high-flying Eintracht Frankfurt. The result left Dieter Hecking's side five points adrift of outright safety.

2:03

Watch: VfB Stuttgart 3-4 Bayer Leverkusen - highlights

Leverkusen found themselves two goals behind at half-time against stuttering VfB Stuttgart before storming back in the second period to win a thrilling encounter 4-3. Patrick Schick's injury-time winner closed the gap to leaders Bayern Munich to six points.

Hello and welcome!

Welcome along and thanks for joining us for build-up and live coverage of this Matchday 27 fixture between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and VfL Bochum 1848.