Results earlier in the day meant a victory here would secure Leipzig’s spot in the top four, and perhaps incentivised by that knowledge, they started on the offensive. Romulo Cardoso was leading the charge, first firing an effort narrowly wide of the post inside the opening five minutes, before he saw a goalward effort cleared off the line by Aleix Garcia.
They proved to be costly misses for the visitors, who were hit with the ultimate sucker punch when Nathan Tella received a quickly taken goal kick inside the area and showed enough composure to square the ball, allowing former Leipzig man Patrik Schick to fire Leverkusen ahead.
Leverkusen truly started to purr after that opener, and ought to have doubled their advantage just moments later, when Tella raced away down the left and fired an effort across goal, which Maarten Vandevoordt parried into the path of Schick, whose effort was heroically cleared off the line by El Chadaille Bitshiabu.
Leipzig didn’t overly threaten an equaliser before the break, but a bolt from the blue from Xaver Schlager almost did send them into HT on level terms, as his 30-yard daisy cutter whistled inches wide of the post with Leverkusen stopper Mark Flekken stranded.
Instead, the half-time deficit stood at two goals, when - just moments before the whistle sounded - Tella ghosted in around the back to sweep home García’s teasing delivery.
Though he was now a goalscorer as well as a provider, Tella clearly wasn’t satisfied and continued to be a thorn in Leipzig’s side. In turn, he played another key role as Leverkusen came close to adding a third, swinging an inch-perfect delivery into the box which Schick fired at the legs of Vandevoordt.
In response, Leipzig made some attacking changes in an attempt to get back into the game, but they didn’t have much of an impact, and Alejandro Grimaldo almost took the game away from them 10 minutes from time when he struck a free-kick onto the roof of the net.
An unrelenting Leverkusen did eventually place the game beyond the Red Bulls in the closing stages when Schick raced through on goal and placed home a third.
Leipzig did manage a late consolation through Christoph Baumgartner, but such was their demise, Leverkusen were able to hit back themselves and restore their three-goal cushion when Schick was sent racing through on goal to complete his hat-trick.
Taking full advantage of Tiago Tomas’ late equaliser at Hoffenheim earlier today, the hosts have now won five of the last seven H2Hs and have their top-four destiny in their own hands.
As for Leipzig, they remain almost certain to finish in the top four themselves and need just one win from their remaining two games to secure a UEFA Champions League spot.