Patrik Schick nets three as Leverkusen beat Leipzig 4:1 — Bundesliga

Bayer 04 Leverkusen beat RB Leipzig 4:1 on Saturday evening and, with it, moved onto a Champions-League place in the bundesliga two matchdays before the season ended. Patrik Schick scored three times, and Leverkusen now sit on 58 points with the race still crowded behind them.

Schick punishes Leipzig

Schick opened the scoring in the 25th minute, added another in the 76th and finished Leipzig off in the 89th. Nathan Tella had made it 2:0 in the 45th minute, and Christoph Baumgartner’s goal in the 80th only briefly cut the gap before Schick’s second strike settled the match again.

Leverkusen’s first goal started with a long clearance from Mark Flekken and a quick move involving Tella and Ibrahim Maza. The chance was finished so fast that the ball had to be put back into play by volunteers rather than taken from the cones, and referee Tobias Welz later stopped that tactic by telling the volunteers behind the goal not to bring balls back into play.

Hoffenheim and Stuttgart

The result mattered because TSG Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart had drawn 3:3 earlier on Saturday afternoon, leaving Leverkusen level on points with both sides but ahead on goal difference. That moved Xabi Alonso’s former champions into a Champions-League qualifying position, while Leipzig lost the chance to lock up third place on the night.

RB Leipzig had arrived on a five-game winning run and still can secure third place with one win from its last two matches, but this was the first time that streak met a side with a sharper edge in front of goal. Mark Flekken and Aleix Garcia had already cleared a dangerous Leipzig attack in the 17th minute, and that early recovery became the warning sign that Leverkusen would not simply sit back on the table pressure.

Leverkusen's closing push

The home side turned that opening scare into a clear lead by halftime, then kept its grip after the break even when Baumgartner reduced the margin. Schick’s late third goal made the difference look as wide as the points table now feels, with Leverkusen sitting inside the Champions-League places and Leipzig forced to chase third place over the final two rounds.