Toprak & Calhanoglu help Bayer Leverkusen progress to Last 16

Toprak & Calhanoglu help Bayer Leverkusen progress to Last 16 [divider]

Bayer Leverkusen have progressed to the Champions League Last 16 in second place following a goalless draw against Benfica.

Bayer would have clinched first place with a win but had to settle for second after Monaco beat Zenit 2-0.

Monaco finished in first place despite only scoring four goal in six games.

Turkish internationals Ömer Toprak and Hakan Çalhanoğlu both started against Benfica.

The Bundesliga outfit finished the game with 10 men after Toprak was sent off for a second yellow card offence on 90 minutes.

Bayer manager Roger Schmidt admitted he was pleased with securing a place in the Last 16 but was disappointed with finishing in second place.

“We are disappointed not to go through as the top team in the group, but we didn’t score in our last two matches,” Schmidt said.

“In the first half we were weak. Second half we started strongly but failed to score. We have to improve for the last 16.”