It was a tough evening in Leverkusen, which became more and more difficult as time went on. The German champions hardly gave us a chance on matchday five of the UEFA Champions League league phase and handed us a clear 5-0 defeat at the BayArena.

We couldn’t have imagined a worse start. At least we were able to keep Leverkusen out in the second minute by presenting the ball to Florian Wirtz on the edge of the penalty area. The German international raced through and tried – but his well-placed shot was brilliantly parried by Alex Schlager.

Our relief didn’t last long, as things became dangerous again in the sixth minute. A dangerous shot hit Sammy Baidoo in the leg and bounced on his elbow – the referee signaled for a penalty after a few seconds and stood by his decision after checking his monitor. Schlager beat Wirtz again, but this time the German genius shot the ball into the goal for a 1-0 lead (6th).

The German champions continued to accelerate and made the final score 2-0 after the next set-piece goal. This time it was Alejandro Grimaldo who curled a free kick just outside the penalty area into the top corner (11th).

In the terrible initial phase there was another setback: Karim Konate suddenly went down injured (13th). We’re waiting for a diagnosis, but things aren’t looking so good for our striker.

Our goal was under constant pressure from the hosts. Schlager did his best to prevent Xabi Alonso’s team from disappearing from sight (five saves in the first half), but in the 30th minute the Austrian goalkeeper could not prevent a solo effort from Wirtz. Leverkusen were in full swing, reminding us how they became champions with an undefeated season. Our boys did well this evening at this pace.

At the start of the second half, the hosts slowed down a bit and played calmly in the early stages. However, Bayer Leverkusen weren’t done yet and struck again with around 30 minutes left – when Jeremie Frimpong directed a cross to Patrik Schick, who made it 4-0.

Xabi Alonso made changes, but the German champions’ dominance remained unchanged. Substitute Aleix Garcia scored another goal, shooting from the edge of the penalty area in the 72nd minute to make it 5-0.

We had the chance to score something in the final stages – Amar Dedic kept Matej Kovar on his toes with a strong performance. However, nothing changed in the thoroughly disappointing result.

We were doing well in all respects. The way Bayer Leverkusen performed today made it difficult to achieve anything, but the way we played, especially in the first half, was disappointing. You can’t do that in Europe.

Nene for Konate (16th), Bidstrup for Clark (46th), Bajcetic for Gourna-Douath (46th), Guindo for Terzic (46th), Capaldo for Diambou (74th)