Union have never had a particularly good record in Leverkusen; they'd never won in the chemical capital before, and after 90  bruising  minutes when their hosts made the most of the opportunities presented them, they still haven't. Nevertheless, particularly after a first half when they more than held their own, it was a bitter pill to swallow. 

Making his first start of the season, Wooyeong Jeong, was keen to make an early impression, barging Aleix Garcia off the ball, shoulder to shoulder. But Lucas Vázquez landed on him after only four minutes, raking his studs down the top of his boot as he landed. Jeong winced as he lay on the floor Derrick Köhn and Diogo Leite standing worried as they looked over him. 

Andras Schäfer, too, was obviously keen to use this, his own first start since the first game of the season, positively, juggling the ball a couple of steps through the centre-circle before lunging at Loïc Badé, having darted forwards.

If Leverkusen, however, started positively - and it took all Leopold Querfeld’s watchfulness to shoo Christian Kofane away from goal - it was Union who looked most likely to open the scoring when Burke broke free, squirming away from Bade’s attentions with the ball and playing Jeong through. Though his shot was true, and hit to the keeper’s right, Mark Flekken had it covered as he dived to parry.

It had been a lesson in footballing simplicity, Rönnow hitting long to Ilić, who knocked it down for the Scotsman; the ball moving 90 yards, from goal to goal, in a couple of seconds. The guests’ next chance came when Doekhi dragged his shot wide from a set piece with 15 minutes played, before the dangerous Alejando Grimaldo whipped a typical effort just over Rönnow’s bar. Burke would hit a vicious cross across the box soon after, but no-one could take advantage.

He hit the side netting when the next long ball came from Querfeld, a drifting, crossfield effort, that found him on Grimaldo’s shoulder, a hair-trigger response waiting to be set-off, while at the back Union seemed settled and confident. Leverkusen were struggling to find a way into the box, and when Kofane suddenly broke after 28 minutes, Querfeld pushed him wide enough on the chase, that the angle to shoot was too tight. Ultimately, he put it well wide of the back post. Köhn, though in only his second start, looked as if he had been at left-back for years, and confidently took care of the threat when Vazquez tried to cut in from the wing.

Ironically, it was from an Union attack, and a misplaced Leite pass that Leverkusen would take the lead after 32minutes.  They broke quickly through Ernest Poku, before Vázquez played a fine pass out to Garcia, whose return was even better. Poku, meanwhile, had continued his run inside to the penalty spot, and it was all he had to do to finish things off past a helpless Rönnow. Union’s stopper hit the ground in the aftermath. Though well worked, and impeccably set up, it was a goal they needn’t really have conceded at all. 

Union tried to pull themselves back into the game. Jeong won a free kick when he spun around Vázquez, inside right, but Trimmel’s free kick was relatively easily dealt with. Jeong would crack another shot from distance, but before the half was up, worries came that put the game into the shade.

Grimaldo was caught accidentally by Kofane’s elbow, and was left motionless on the ground, blood pouring from his head. He was taken off on a stretcher, thankfully wide awake and holding a sponge to his own wound. 

Thoughts quickly returned to the pitch as play restarted, and Ilić almost reached Trimmel’s next ball in from the right, but Köhn and Tilmann were the next pair to clash heads, again through nothing more than the desperate will to reach a ball dropping equally between them.

If Union had been relatively level throughout the first half, things were about to  turn on their head. Despite Ilić’s agitation up front, forcing Flekken into a sideways pass almost along his own goal line, it was the guests who had the first big chance as Tilmann blazed over. But it mattered little because, following Doekhi’s back pass, Rönnow couldn’t get any weight on the return and only rolled the ball in the direction of Kofane. The Leverkusen striker took the gift gladly - he couldn’t believe his luck – and rolled the ball around Union’s now stricken stopper and finished for 2-0.

Then, after 52 minutes, Garcia thought he had made it three, as Leverkusen broke  at pace, but he had strayed just offside as Kofane played him in before beating Rönnow at the near post. They were suddenly threatening on the break in a way that they hadn’t throughout the first half, and with almost an hour played Ibrahim Maza crashed a low shot off the base of Rönnow’s left-hand upright as they cut Union to shreds in another move started deep in their own half. Garcia drove wide from range. 

Union were clinging on now and could only breathe again briefly as Maza shot over with his left foot. Baumgart reacted, taking off Burke, Schäfer and Jeong for Ilyas Ansah, Tim Skarke and Aljoscha Kemlein.

The changes gave Union cause for hope, stopping the endless momentum coming their way, and Köhn drew an excellent stop from Flekken, having cut in from the right. With 20 minutes to play, Baumgart made his final throw of the dice, bringing on Janik Haberer for the captain, Trimmel, and Tom Rothe for Diogo Leite, who was on a yellow card following a late challenge earlier on in the half. 

Köhn, too, saw yellow when he dragged back Arthur. He grimaced and gave referee, Christian Dingert, a thumbs up. He knew it was coming. He never stopped, at either end, and shot over the bar with ten minutes to go from the edge of the box. 

But Leverkusen were largely in control by that point and were only a wonderful Rönnow stop from Tilmann away from adding a third. His volley was hit hard and rising, but the Dane flung a hand up to tip it over the bar, somehow. Tillman and Maza were muscled away by Querfeld as a high ball dropped to them in the box; Jonas Hofmann then squared into the box, but there was nobody there to exploit the gap that he had found.

To their great credit, Union refused to give up. With four minutes time added on, Ansah got his first effort away, side-footing a volley over, having let the ball come across as he opened up his body. Flekken then had to dive full stretch to save Khedira’s shot.  

But their resistance proved futile by the time the final whistle blew. If, for the fans, it couldn’t have come soon enough, they never showed it. They sung until the bitter end, and would travel home knowing that the imminent international break will  at least be followed by the excitement of Gladbach at home under  the lights.