“He implemented the tactical shift well.”

Leverkusen head-coach Gerardo Seoane credited both his team and the club supporters following Tuesday’s crucial home UCL victory over Atletico Madrid. Crucial substitute Jeremie Frimpong also obviously earned plaudits. 

Bayer 04 Leverkusen took a tremendous leap out of their current form crisis with a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid in Tuesday’s round two 2022/23 UEFA Champions League Group Stage fixture. Afterwards, B04 trainer Gerardo Seoane had high praise for his team following what was most certainly their first consistently cohesive and coherent 90 minutes of the season.
“The decisive factor was the energy level in the team,” Seoane noted. “This connection between the players makes the difference. There was [also] an energy in the stadium today that will hopefully carry us even further in the coming days.”

Unsurprisingly, the Werkself gaffer had to reserve specific praise for substitute Jeremie Frimpong. The Dutchman came on roughly 20 minutes from time and assisted on both late Leverkusen goals. Germany’s red company team may not have gotten the opening goal at all had Frimpong not kept the play going instead of stopping and appealing for a handball in the 84th.

“Jerry {Frimpong] repeatedly pushed deep with his speed,” Seoane explained afterwards, “He also implemented the switch between five-man and four-man backline well.”

Leverkusen’s much-maligned defensive ranks were finally able to put together a good game. Center-halves Jonathan Tah and Edmond Tapsoba made some crucial tackles in preservation of the clean sheet whilst fullbacks Odilon Kossounou and Piero Hincapie played well on both sides of the ball.

When Frimpong entered for Adam Hlozek in the 69th, Kossounou folded into the back-three whilst Hincapie and Frimpong functioned as wingbacks. This shifted on and off the ball. A visibly relieved Tah didn’t wish to talk about his own performance on Tuesday night, instead offering a few words on how the late surge was achieved.

“Atletico wanted to play more offensively,” Tah said of Atletico trainer Diego Simeone’s own late tactical shift, “That gave us a lot of opportunities on the counter.”

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