Matchday Twelve: Tearful Reunion

By: Scott | November 7th, 2009

The last time we saw Michael Skibbe at BayArena, he was there to clean out his desk- the 07/08 season razed on its final matchday, two-and-half years of service to the Werkself scrubbed away. His final memories were of angry supporters building pitchside bonfires of Leverkusen jerseys and a stolen mobile phone packed with pics of the fallen coach finding the back of his then-girlfriend’s net. Skibbe went to a lot of trouble to keep those pictures from being made public, and I can’t help but wonder if they contained any sort of spanking more graphic than the one we gave Eintracht Frankfurt earlier this evening.

Heading into the match, all Werkself supporters must have been uneasy. Adler, oozy-eyed with an infection caused by his contact lenses, was forced to sit this one out. Jupp Heynckes took 19-year-old Fabian Giefer aside, handed him the biggest shoes he’d likely ever seen in his life and told him he’d be making his Bundesliga debut by trying to fill them. On top of the situation in nets, Renato Augusto had been shipped back to Brazil for knee surgery and Simon Rolfes was still unable to return to training. Giefer wasn’t the only one losing sleep. But whatever Valerian-induced dreams Giefer might have had during those blessed hours when thought is caged in the subconscious, its unlikely any of them involved 90 minutes of basically just hanging around and watching.

Kiess50thscored Dismissing as misguided drivel all that talk about Frankfurt picking up momentum from their win last weekend, the Werkself wasted no time making their intentions known. Not two minutes in and Kieß was kissing ink in celebration his 50th Bundesliga goal. Oh, but we weren’t quite done with the stuff of sports trivia questions just yet. Stefan Reinartz, showing that scoring isn’t just for veterans, headed one past Frankfurt’s Ralf Fährmann minutes later to double our lead.

Two up in six minutes. Frankfurt were already looking flustered and we had no plans of sharing the good times. A shot on by Derdiyok found itself deflected perfectly to Toni Kroos, who took the opportunity to add another beautiful goal to his CV. Ah, Toni, how we’ll miss you when the FCB machine comes to reclaim your soul.

Prior to matchday, Skibbe had told Frankfurt brass that they need to start looking for a striker in case Ionnis Amanatidis injury keeps him from playing the second half of the season. After fifteen minutes at BayArena, Skibbe had some other positions to add to that shopping list. skibbemsiery His squad had come completely undone. By the half-hour mark, with Hyypiä having nearly brought the lead to four, Skibbe got a reminder of what fire and angry fans look like when some of the Frankfurt rowdies got their flares going.

Having not yet learned their lesson by halftime, Frankfurt made a brief showing of strength when play resumed, but were quickly beaten back into the submissive role. The only real pressure Giefer was put under was off a pass to Frankfurt he accidentally made himself- an error he managed to quickly correct.

With less then 10 minutes of regulation time, as Fährmann’s wounds were just starting to close, the Werkself managed another milestone as Lars Bender slotted in his first league goal.

As I am rather soft-spoken, and hate to come off as one who gloats or speaks ill of the dead, let’s look at what some nastier people have to say about today’s match, shall we?

fahrmann misery

Leverkusen humiliate Frankfurt 4-0

Humiliate? How rude!

Leverkusen go four points clear with Frankfurt demolition

Demolition? That’s a bit strong!

Leaders Leverkusen rout Frankfurt

Rout seems so ungentlemanly, don’t you think?

Frankfurt rowdies weep like schoolgirls as mighty Leverkusen unleash Hell in a tireless display of clear superiority.

Hmmm… can’t seem to find the link for that one. I’m sure I read it somewhere, though. Oh well.

If you haven’t had chance to see today’s match, try to make a point of finding the time. Although Frankfurt weren’t able to show up with their preferred starters, this wasn’t just a case of Leverkusen lucking into a win. It was all the parts coming together. Barnetta, who just signed on for another two years with Bayer 04 was integral to our first two goals. Kroos again proved himself an asset to the squad, both in midfield and in class finishing. Hyppiä, looking in top form after last weekend’s injury concerns, was phenomenal, and our less-often seen players showed there’s no need to worry when they come off the bench. And the really nice part is that, along with all our other firsts from today’s match, we also are able to end the matchday the same way we started it: at the top of the table. Regardless of who else wins or loses, we can’t be leap-frogged this week. Highlights, while they last:

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It almost seems a shame that we’ll have to wait through next weekend’s internationals before getting back at it against Bayern Munchen. At least we’ll finally be seeing Kießling back in the NT kit. Gee. I wonder if he’s ready….

Matchday Twelve comes off the Victory Beard but first a quick note to Rene:

Schedule laser surgery during the winter break. If need be, I’ll even pay for it myself.

sptg12beard