"The players are obviously very tired. It's clear there is a lack of freshness but that's only to be expected at this stage of the pre-season. Overall, they took up the challenge very well and did a good job of meeting our targets for today: We didn't want to commit any fouls, looked to play a possession game and create goalscoring opportunities. The result is ok but there is room for improvement. Above all in the second half, we could have scored one or two more goals," summed up Heiko Herrlich after the game.
The reason for the Bayer 04 visit was the fiftieth anniversary of the club that won the Rhineland Cup in 2012. The evening provided three firsts for the Werkself: For the first friendly of the pre-season the Black and Reds had first use of the new team bus and that was followed by the first outing in the new home kit seen in the photo shoot before yesterday's DFl Media Day. Heiko Herrlich had to manage without the injured Charles Aranguiz (knee), Lukas Hradecky (jaw op), Panos Retsos (hand) and Joel Pohjanpalo (ankle). Dominik Kohr also had to take it easy after twisting his knee in the morning training session.
Captained by Julian Baumgartlinger, the Werkself set the pace in summer temperatures at the 'In der Au' Stadium in Roßbach/Wied – the well-organised defence of the hosts around goalkeeper Peter Stegemann initially proved to be unbeatable. "The opposition did well and were very well organised in defence. In the opening stages of the game we found it very difficult to get through to the final third," said Herrlich in praising the hosts. It took half an hour for the Black and Reds to breach the Roßbach bulwark and put the ball in the back of the net: Baumgartlinger scored a deserved opener on 28 minutes after a fine solo run. That was followed by strikes from Kai Havertz (39') and Lucas Alario (41'). Bayer 04 went into the break with a 3-0 lead.
Heiko Herrlich made nine changes at half-time – only Baumgartlinger and Sam Schreck stayed on. Regardless of the many changes it remained a one-sided affair after the restart with the Roßbach team coached by Uwe van Eckeren unable to escape from the stranglehold of the Bundesliga side. Kevin Volland converted a penalty on 48 minutes, before Mitchell Weiser netted on his Werkself debut (65') and Lars Bender (79') with an impressive long-range effort extended the lead. The final goal in the 7-0 victory came from Sam Schreck with an outstanding curler (81').
Bayer 04: Özcan (Kirschbaum 46') – Henrichs (Weiser 46'), Sven Bender (Boller 46'), Dragovic (Tah 46'), Bednarczyk (Wendell 46') – Baumgartlinger (Makreckis 75'), Staniliewicz (Lars Bender 46') – Bailey (Bellarabi 46'), Havertz (Azhil 46'), Schreck – Alario (Volland 46')
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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Bayer 04’s eight opponents in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League have been confirmed. At the draw on Friday 28 August held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the Werkself were drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots. There are a total of four home and four away matches. Read on for details of opponents and fixture dates.
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In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-3 loss at SV 07 Elversberg on Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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