Loïc Badé's Frightening Injury in Hoffenheim Defeat: Andrich Concerned

Robert Andrich, who witnessed Loïc Badé's injury up close in Bayer Leverkusen's 3-0 defeat at Hoffenheim, said he had to "swallow hard" at the moment it happened.

Leverkusen's five-match unbeaten run in the Bundesliga came to an end at the SNP Arena, where Andrej Kramaric lit the fuse for the hosts' victory.

Kramaric put Hoffenheim 1-0 up from the penalty spot in the 79th minute, and before their second goal Badé and Max Moerstedt were involved in a violent clash of heads. Referee Daniel Siebert did not stop play, and Alexander Prass made the most of the situation, beating Mark Flekken with a shot into the roof of the net to double the lead.

Badé was carried off on a stretcher and received treatment immediately. Despite Prass being sent off for taking his shirt off while celebrating, Hoffenheim added another goal in stoppage time through Moerstedt to compound Leverkusen's nightmare.

The result means Leverkusen suffered their second Bundesliga defeat of the season and have won only one of their last five league away games (1 draw, 3 defeats).

After the match, all attention turned to Badé's condition. Andrich, who was very close to the incident, described the impact of the collision as horrifying. Asked whether Badé had been responsive on the pitch, Andrich replied: "No, not really. First and foremost, we wish Loïc a speedy recovery. It was a really heavy blow; you have to swallow hard at what you saw."

Leverkusen remain fourth in the table and have dropped 4 points behind leaders Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Hoffenheim, meanwhile, recorded their biggest Bundesliga win since the 3-0 victory over Freiburg in mid-February this year. The only time Christian Ilzer's side won by a bigger margin in the league was the 5-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach in January.

Kramaric's goal was also Hoffenheim's 1,000th in the Bundesliga, and it took him past 200 goal involvements in the league. Since the 2004-05 season, only Robert Lewandowski (367), Thomas Müller (323) and Marco Reus (251) have surpassed his 201 goal involvements (141 goals, 60 assists). Mario Gomez shares the same mark as Kramaric with 201 involvements.