Toppmöller praises supersub Bastürk

Bayer 04 Leverkusen coach Klaus Toppmöller praised his ‘angry’ substitute Yildiray Bastürk for putting his team on the road to victory against Spanish giants Barcelona. “Bastürk was angry at having to sit on the bench,” he explained after his side’s 2-1 UEFA Champions League Group F win over FC Barcelona. “He was our match winner.” 

Immediate influence
Turkish midfielder Bastürk’s goal early in the second half was followed by a winner from Oliver Neuville in the 69th minute. Toppmoller said: “In the first half we didn’t play well. The reason for this is that we were nervous. I told the team at half-time that we still have a chance. My team believed in itself and played well. We were aggressive and Barcelona didn’t have any chances in the second half.” 

Relief for Butt
One man who was relieved to see Bastürk’s effort fly in from 25 metres in the 52nd minute was Leverkusen goalkeeper Hans-Jörg Butt who missed a penalty on the half hour – with Leverkusen trailing to Luis Enrique’s deft finish in the 22nd minute. “In the end my penalty miss was not so important," he said. "The second half was incredible. We were superb. After my penalty, the team stood by me. We knew we could win and in the second half, Barcelona had no real chances.”

Little comfort
The manner of the defeat will have served as a reminder to Barcelona coach Carles Rexach that the road to qualifying for the second stage will not be an easy one as he looks to rebuild a side that fell at the first-stage hurdle last year. While the likes of Patrick Kluivert and Luis Enrique worked tirelessly for the team, there were precious few plus points to be drawn from their second-half performance. “There were many young players in my team tonight who were playing in the Champions League for the first time,” Rexach said.

Rexach unhappy with second half
“The spectators saw a good game tonight. Both teams fought hard, and in the first half we were the better side and should have had a more decisive lead. In the second half, they were better. Before their first goal, we lost an easy ball. Also, I thought the referee was not that good. He came from Scotland and didn’t give many fouls.”

Delighted fans
Not that the home fans were bothered. With six points out of six and first place in the group, Leverkusen now need only to win their home games against Olympique Lyonnaise and Fenerbahçe to book their passage to the second group stage.