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.
This afternoon, Saturday 24 January (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayer 04 host SV Werder Bremen, who are winless in their last seven league games. Nevertheless, in their last outing, a 3-3 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, where they conceded a late equaliser, the Green and Whites did show their team spirit. The Werkself, led by birthday boy Patrik Schick, will be looking to counter this and secure their first three points of the new year on this ‘!Never Again’ remembrance matchday to commemorate the victims of National Socialism. Read on for the latest information in today's matchday news.
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Happy birthday, Patrik Schick! On his special day, it's not just the Czech striker who can look forward to lots of presents and hopefully many more goals – Bayer 04 fans can also get their hands on a free number 14 print when they buy a Werkself jersey today, January 24! In addition, a match-worn jersey belonging to the now 30-year-old will be raffled off among all purchasers next week.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-1 win at 1. FC Union Berlin on the 15th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Despite a severely depleted squad and being a player down, the Bayer 04 Women made a winning start to their 2026 campaign. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team won 2-1 at newly promoted FC Union Berlin on Friday night thanks to a last-minute goal. Vanessa Fudalla scored from a direct free-kick (78') and Kristin Kögel (90+2’) in stoppage time for the Werkself, who were reduced to ten players on 68 minutes, on an atmospheric stage at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. As a result, the Black and Reds are now fifth in the table for at least one night at the start of matchday 15.
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The Werkself are looking for the first win of the new calendar year: Ahead of the sold-out Bundesliga home match against SV Werder Bremen on Saturday, 24 January (kick-off: 15:30 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about taking chances, possible winter transfers and a “Lion" returning to the Leverkusen matchday squad.
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