The Werkself have clocked up victories in eleven out of 13 games in 2020. The record in detail: Peter Bosz’s team have won seven out of nine games in the Bundesliga with the others producing one draw and one defeat. Bayer 04 have progressed to the semi-finals of the DFB Cup, after a 2-1 win against VfB Stuttgart in the Round of 16 and a 3-1 win in the quarter-final tie against Union Berlin, where FC Saarbrücken are the opponents. It remains to be seen when the game will be played. And the Werkself are still in the running in the Europa League having knocked out FC Porto in the Round of 32 and have won the first leg of the Round of 16 tie against Glasgow Rangers.
In the currently paused Bundesliga, Bayer 04 are fifth in the table on 47 points – two behind Borussia Mönchengladbach, three behind RB Leipzig, four behind Borussia Dortmund and eight points behind league leaders Bayern Munich. By comparison: At the same point last term, the points the tally was 42 – five less than now.
A look at the second half of the season table underlines the fantastic start to 2020 for the Werkself – the team under head coach Peter Bosz (19 points) are in third place behind Bayern (22) and Dortmund (21).
The only defeat in 2020 for the Werkself came on Bundesliga matchday 20 against TSG Hoffenheim. Bayer 04 ended up losing 2-1 after Moussa Diaby scored the opening goal. Disappointing! But the only slip-up…
One key element of the good situation is, without doubt, Bayer 04’s brilliant home form. The Werkself are unbeaten at home this season. The Black and Reds have picked up seven out of a possible seven wins with the backing of their fans. Not a single point dropped! Fortress BayArena.
No question, Kai Havertz has not been as effective as usual in spite all of his commitment. In 21 games across all competitions, he was ‘only’ involved in four goals – three strikes and one assist. Since the start of the year, Havertz has rediscovered his previous fine form. Our number 29 has scored seven goals and provided seven assists since the winter break. He has three times as many goals and assists together than in the first half of the season.
Havertz achieved an historic achievement on matchday 25: The 20-year-old opened the scoring on four minutes in the 4-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt to clock up his 30th goal in the Bundesliga. At the age of 20 years and 270 days, he is the youngest player in the history of the Bundesliga to reach that number. The previous record holder, Klaus Fischer, was 15 days holder.
The 21-year-old central defender was signed from Vitoria Guimaraes in the winter break – and he is already a first-team regular. In the first two games after signing, the 6 foot 2 Tapsoba was on the bench but the 21-year-old played the full 90 minutes in his debut against Borussia Dortmund on 8 February and he has gone the full distance in eight games since. Only in the Europa League game in Glasgow was he substituted on 68 minutes. Peter Bosz is full of praise for the newcomer: “I don’t normally bring through players that quickly. You can’t believe he’s only been here for a few weeks.”
And it’s also going like clockwork for Moussa Diaby. Our summer signing has scored 04 goals and provided five assists in 2020. And it appears he has been inspired by the (impending) birth of his first child. His son was born on 28 February.
This man is not only up for having fun all the time but Lukas Hradecky is also an outstanding goalkeeper. The Finn with Slovakian roots has kept eight clean sheets in the Bundesliga this season, including three in 2020 – only Manuel Neuer (ten clean sheets, Bayern Munich) was better. In terms of saves, Hradecky (71.7 %) is the third best regular keeper with only Yann Sommer (75.4 %, Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Peter Gulacsi (72.4 %, RB Leipzig) performing better.
Full-back Julia Mickenhagen is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the end of the season to join Bundesliga newcomers VfB Stuttgart. The 21-year-old’s contract with the club expires on 30 June.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 3-1 win at RB Leipzig on the 25th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Werkself need a win in their penultimate match of the season at RB Leipzig on Monday evening (18:00 CEST) to keep their hopes of third place alive until the final day. After Eintracht Frankfurt lost on Saturday, Roberto Pätzold's side can close the gap on their rivals to two points and leave it all to play for next Sunday.
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Werkself fans from across the New York City area gathered Saturday morning at Smithfield Hall in Manhattan to cheer on Bayer 04 in the club’s crucial Bundesliga showdown against VfB Stuttgart given the match’s big implications.
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In the next head-to-head clash for the Champions League places at VfB Stuttgart, Bayer 04 failed to follow up their impressive 4-1 win at home to RB Leipzig from the week before. After Aleix Garcia gave the Werkself the lead with their fastest goal of the season, the Swabians turned the game around and won 3-1, knocking Leverkusen down into sixth place. It leaves them needing a win at home to Hamburger SV and other results to go their way on the final day of the 2025/26 campaign in order to reclaim fourth spot. The Werkself Review has all the analysis and reaction from all those involved in an eventful encounter with VfB.
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