Roger Schmidt was able to pick from a large number of established players and gave most of them at least 45 minutes in the new red away kit. The Werkself had to recover from going behind early on in the game. Porto’s striker André Silva exploited a mistake in the Leverkusen defence on eight minutes to give the Portuguese the lead.
Roger Schmidt’s team, having trained at the BayArena in the morning and with Lars Bender sidelined, took a while to recover from the setback. Kyriakos Papadopoulos rose to meet a corner from the lively Hakan Calhanoglu and directed a header goalward but the Spanish European Championship and World Cup winner Iker Casillas was able to make the save on 24 minutes. The game developed into an open encounter with the Werkself pressing for an equaliser. However, Chicharito, Kevin Volland and Co. were unable to find the back of net straight away.
Impressive equaliser
That all changed after the restart. Schmidt brought on André Ramalho and Admir Mehmedi and Calhanoglu went just wide with a long-range effort on 48 minutes. Leverkusen were rewarded for all their efforts ten minutes later: Volland picked out his strike partner Chicharito with a breathtaking disguised pass in the penalty area and the Mexican was hand to curl the ball over the keeper to level the scores at 1-1. An impressive combination of the two strikers to whet the appetite for more.
Chicharito went off shortly after that to be replaced by Joel Pohjanpalo making his first appearance after his loan period at Fortuna Düsseldorf. And the agile Finn fitted in at once. He looked to get on the end of a cross from another substitute Levin Öztunali but the ball went just wide of the target. Shortly after that, Öztunali almost netted a winner but his header from a Mehmedi cross also failed to find the target. The game ended 1-1.
Off to Austria on Thursday
While FC Porto have almost completed an eleven-day training camp in Kamen-Kaiserau the Werkself are about to start the busy phase of the pre-season. The Bayer 04 squad, management and support staff head for Zell am See in Kaprun, Austria on Thursday for a training camp designed to lay the foundations for the coming campaign.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Özcan – Hilbert (Akkaynak 74’), Papadopoulos (Ramalho 46’), Toprak (Cacutalua 82’), Henrichs – Kampl, Calhanoglu (Yurchenko 62’, Havertz 76’) – Bellarabi (Öztunali 62’), Brandt (Mehmedi 46’) – Volland (Schreck 75’), Chicharito (Pohjanpalo 62’).
Goals: 0-1 André Silva (8’), 1-1 Chicharito (58’)
Monster Energy has been a partner in the Sponsors Club at Bayer 04 Leverkusen since the start of the 2023/24 season. Monster Energy has shown their products at Werkself home games on the LED advertising hoardings at the BayArena. Monster Energy activated the next stage of the partnership with the current Bundesliga league leaders for Bayer 04’s home game against Union Berlin in the middle of November. Monster Energy will continue to present themselves as a reliable and ambitious partner to Leverkusen fans through similar promotional events as at the game against Union Berlin.
Show moreBayer 04 involvement with the ‘Kältegang Leverkusen’ project continues this winter. The current Bundesliga league leaders and their fans again presented financial and in-kind donations to the homeless charity at home game against Borussia Dortmund (1-1).
Show moreThe Werkself remain unbeaten after the 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund on Bundesliga Matchday 13. The one-sided game demanded a lot of strength of nerve and competitive spirit from Xabi Alonso's team. In the end, Victor Boniface rewarded the relentless attacking efforts of the league leaders against passive but efficient visitors. The Werkself review.
Show moreBayer 04 were held to a 1-1 draw by Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 13 in the Bundesliga. Julian Ryerson had put the visitors in front at a sold-out BayArena after only five minutes. Leverkusen would go on to dominate proceedings and finally get their deserved equaliser through Victor Boniface in the 79th minute. It’s a result that extends the Werkself’s unbeaten run in all competitions this season to 20 matches.
Show moreFor the 17th time, Bayer 04 Sportförderung gGmbH has awarded the Volunteers Award for outstanding commitment to football in Leverkusen and the surrounding region. The three outstanding clubs in 2023 are BSV Roleber 1919, TuS 05 Oberpleis and SV 1924 Glehn. They will each receive prize money of €5,000.
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