German hopefuls hit high notes
Thursday, 15 March 2007
by Simon Hart
It is not every day a goalkeeper ends a match with a microphone to his mouth serenading his own fans, but you can forgive René Adler for surfing the wave of celebration as Bayer 04 Leverkusen strode into the UEFA Cup quarter-finals last night.
'We were perfect'
For the first time since 2002, when they reached the UEFA Champions League final, Leverkusen are into the last eight of a UEFA club competition and they got there in style, overturning a 2-1 first-leg deficit against French side RC Lens through three unanswered goals from Andriy Voronin, Sergej Barbarez and Juan. "Tactically we were perfect," said coach Michael Skibbe. "Compliments to my team - that was how football is supposed to be played."
Voronin ambitious
"Things are going well for us," added Voronin, who swept in the first goal and then had a hand in setting up the two that followed against opponents lying second in France's Ligue 1. "We are playing with a solid defence and are taking our chances in front of goal." The Ukrainian forward, who will join Liverpool FC in the summer, continued: "In my last season at Leverkusen I want to go as far as possible."
