"It's an absolutely disappointing result," was the remorseless assessment of Heiko Herrlich. "Bonn grew stronger after making it 2-1. It's almost as if we were begging for the equaliser. One or two players might have thought they could manage with 50 per cent effort. But that's not enough – even though you can't forget that we're in the pre-season," added the clearly unhappy Bayer 04 coach.
Herrlich again had to make do without the Confed Cup participants (Bernd Leno, Benjamin Henrichs, Julian Brandt, Chicharito, Charles Aranguiz). In addition, Ramalho, Lars Bender and Stefan Kießling were rested as were Jonathan Tah and U21 European Champion Dominik Kohr having just returned from holiday. New signing Sven Bender, greeted with loud applause from the 1,400 supporters in the Sportpark Nord, made his debut in a Werkself shirt.
The Werkself were first out of the blocks against the Regional League side driven on by the lively and impressive Kevin Kampl, Leon Bailey and Karim Bellarabi. And the deadlock was broken on nine minutes: Kampl broke through into the Bonn penalty area after a backheel from Bailey and made no mistake as he put the Werkself 1-0 up. Herrlich's men were creating chance after chance as the game went on. However, Julian Baumgartlinger, Kai Havertz, Kevin Volland and Bellarabi were unable to put the ball in the back of the 'Rhine Lions' net. Bonn were lucky to go into half-time just one goal down.
Herrlich made eight changes at half-time but opted to continue with Kampl, Baumgartlinger and goalkeeper Niklas Lomb. As in the first 45 minutes, the Werkself continued to dominate the game but failed to convert a number of clear-cut chances. The Black and Reds finally went 2-0 up on 65 minutes when Yurchenko converted a penalty.
The hosts surprisingly pulled a goal back six minutes later through Joran Sobiech. The team coached by former Leverkusen youth coach Daniel Zillken, who start their league campaign next week, grew ever stronger and looked dangerous on the break. The Werkself appeared to fade and attacking moves dwindled. The inevitable happened with four minutes to play: Bonn's Jannick Stoffels hit a 40-yard drive into the bottom left corner of the Bayer 04 goal – to level at 2-2.
The next friendly for the Werkself is on Sunday (14.30 CET) away to second division SV Sandhausen. The Bayer 04 pros then head off to the training camp in Zell am See on Monday.
Bayer 04: Lomb – Bednarczyk (Frey 46’), Dragovic (Akkaynak 46’), S. Bender (Abu Hanna 46’), Wendell (Handwerker 46’) – Baumgartlinger, Kampl – Bellarabi (Schreck 46’), Bailey (Mehmedi 46’) – Havertz (Yurchenko 46’), Volland (Pohjanpalo 46’).
New signing Miguel Gutiérrez arrives in Leverkusen having won the Champions League, the Spanish league title and an Olympic gold medal. However, the 25-year-old Spaniard, signed from Napoli, is looking to the future – he wants to write the next chapter of success with the Werkself. Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the skilful, attack-minded left-back, who will wear the number 3 jersey.
Show more
The Werkself's training camp in Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog you'll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day three (Tuesday 4 August) begins with a thorough open session on the pitch. After lunch, some players have media engagements at the team hotel, and then the team come together for a barbecue in the evening.
Show more
Nine matches against teams from nine countries, two penalty shoot-outs won, and encounters that went far beyond football: As with last year, the Inklusionswerkself enjoyed an extraordinary week at the Genuine Cup 2026 in Houston, USA, and made memories that will last a lifetime. This year, the Leverkusen side took part as Germany’s official representatives and, accordingly, took to the pitch in Germany kit. Together with 53 teams from 53 nations, the Black and Reds once again sent a powerful message of inclusion and participation – and also impressed on the pitch by winning their group.
Show more
The Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog, you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. The programme for day two (Monday, 3 August) centres on two training sessions – one in the morning (open to the public) and one in the early evening (behind closed doors) – at the nearby training grounds. In the afternoon, fans can look forward to a big fan meet-up with club legend Paulo Sergio at Schloss Blankenhain.
Show more
