Not only the press had special praise for striker Lucas Alario who scored the winner against Paderborn on 25 minutes. His team-mate Aleksandar Dragovic was also rejoicing in the Mixed Zone after the win: "Lucas is an unpredictable animal in the box. He's a lion and we just need to feed him." Alario also scored last weekend in the 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen – his Werkself team-mates certainly seem to be feeding him well in terms of assists at the moment.
In addition to Alario and Dragovic, there was another Bayer 04 pro on the pitch against Paderborn who the fans last saw in a competitive match 334 days ago. Defender Panagiotis Retsos, at Leverkusen since the summer of 2017 and hit by several long-term injuries, celebrated his comeback. The 21-year-old replace the injured Lars Bender on 31 minutes and did a good job. May that continue, Panos!
Turid Knaak wore the Bayer 04 shirt for six years (2011-17). In that time, she made 102 appearances scoring 20 goals. What few people know: The striker was a winner with the Werkself women's team in 2015 in the last DFB indoor cup competition. Since the summer of 2017, the 28-year-old has been at the Flyeralarm Bundesliga club SGS Essen and on Sunday (from 18.00 CET, live on ARD) she is replacing the ARD ski expert Felix Neureuther, absent due to illness, in drawing the Round of 16 matches of the DFB Cup. She will be accompanied in the German Football Museum in Dortmund by Andreas Köpke, the Germany goalkeeping coach, and presenter Matthias Opdenhövel.
Bayer 04 failed to win in five games in October: In the group stage of the Champions League there were two defeats at Juventus (0-3) and Atletico Madrid (0-1), a 3-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt plus two draws (1-1 against Leipzig, 2-2 against Werder Bremen). The DFB Cup did bring the first win for the Werkself in this less than golden October.
The Bayer 04 pros now go into November. And the Werkself fixture list continues to bring game after game: There are six matches in 26 days with a number of exciting duels. The meeting with the league leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach is followed by the visit of Atletico Madrid to the BayArena and in form Wolfsburg and Freiburg are also opponents as are Champions League competitors Lokomotiv Moscow and then Bayern Munich.
Tickets for the first two Bayer 04 women’s team home games are now on general sale. A week after their league opener away at RB Leipzig, Roberto Pätzold’s side will face last season’s runners-up, VfL Wolfsburg, in the first home fixture on Sunday 30 August (kick-off: 16:00 CEST). Fifteen days later, on Monday night, 14 September (kick-off: 18:00 CEST), the Leverkusen Women host German champions Bayern Munich at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for a top-of-the-table league clash. You can now also select specific seats via the online shop. The latest information on match ticket sales.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended midfielder Noah Mbamba’s contract by twelve months and sent the Belgian U21 international on loan to France. At FC Lorient, the 21-year-old – whose contract at Leverkusen now runs to 30 June 2029 – is set to gain playing time in Ligue 1 and, through strong performances and further development, put himself in the running for a future place in the Werkself squad.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 2-1 victory in the friendly match against FC Sevilla...
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Back at the BayArena at last! For the first time since the summer break, the Werkself played at their home ground in the 2026 season launch – and went on to beat Sevilla in the fifth preseason friendly. Patrik Schick turned the game around after Miguel Sierra put the visitors ahead (16’), scoring twice in the second half (66’, 79’) to the delight of the Bayer 04 fans in the new seats at the BayArena. New signing Miguel Gutiérrez was delighted to provide the assist for the equaliser on his debut under the Bayer Cross.
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