The Bundesliga threw up an intriguing encounter this weekend as fourth faced fifth in the league, with the race for Champions League football the target for FC Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen.
As both sides were still reeling from their exits in Europe over the past few weeks, the respective managers were looking for a response in their attempts to get back into Europe’s premier club competition.
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In a game of few chances, it was a perfect away display from Bayer Leverkusen who scored an early goal and threatened late on to settle the game, but couldn’t kill the game off.
After a cagey first half, Karim Bellarabi scored a sensational solo effort, rifling his shot into the roof of the net to give Leverkusen a vital lead at the interval.
Schalke failed to make any clear cut opportunities, but had a few penalty shouts. As the game wore on, it looked like the visitors would get another and Emir Spahic came the closest from a corner.