In the first round of the DFB-Pokal, last season’s double winner Bayer Leverkusen narrowly defeated the regional league team Carl Zeiss Jena 1-0. After the game, Andrich harshly criticized the entire Leverkusen team for their lackluster performance, stating that although they managed to advance, their play was even worse than that of a regional league team.
In the away match against Carl Zeiss Jena, Leverkusen won 1-0 with a winning goal from Hofmann in the 52nd minute, advancing narrowly. Andrich stated that the whole team was not in good form, “Everyone on the team did not perform well, we must admit that our performance today was terrible.”
Regarding whether the short preparation period led to a bumpy start to the season, Andrich said, “Although everyone needs time to regain form, I believe there has been enough time to adjust. However, I always feel something is lacking; this was our worst game.”
Andrich frankly admitted that Leverkusen’s performance was not as good as that of a regional league team, “We hardly had any chances and only scored one goal, maybe with 2-3 threatening attacks. The opponent created more opportunities than us; such a poor performance should not occur with us. We need to regain our form.”
In addition, Andrich believes that Leverkusen underestimated their opponents, “We should have taken the game seriously, just like how we would approach playing Leipzig over the weekend.”
