Hyypia hails Leverkusen belief as Bayer progress

The German side went into the clash at Anoeta needing to better Shakhtar Donetsk's result at Manchester United, and the English champions lent Leverkusen a hand.

United defeated Shakhtar 1-0, while Omer Toprak's second-half strike ensured Leverkusen defeated Sociedad to claim second place in Group A.

Hyypia shared insight as to what he said at the interval with both games locked at 0-0, which involved an accurate prediction.

He said: "I told my players at half-time that we would score a goal from a set-piece today and that we only have to believe in ourselves.

"When I heard that Manchester were 1-0 up in their game, I knew that we didn’t have to risk more than was necessary."

Club captain Simon Rolfes labelled Leverkusen's progression as "very important" but rued missed chances at Sociedad.

He added: "It's very important for us to know that we will play in the Champions League next year. We should have scored a lot more goals.

"We controlled the game in the first half and in the second we applied more pressure. It was a deserved victory."