The assessment of the 3-1 defeat at home to VfL Wolfsburg on kicker.de reads: "Bruno Labbadia beat his former club Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga for the first time at the thirteenth attempt. As in the surprise victory against FC Schalke on matchday one, Labbadia's VfL Wolfsburg produced an impressive display at the BayArena to secure a 3-1 win with a brace scored halfway through the second 45. The Werkself threw away the lead from a strike by Bailey and remain pointless."
There is a similar view in the report in the online edition of the BILD: "Yesterday, the lead came first followed by the mistakes: Leon Bailey (21) scored with a curler for the opener on 24 minutes. Wofsburg's response: Gerhardt crossed from the byline and the Bayer keeper Özcan (34) punched the ball into his own net (36'). Unlucky: 'Anyone can make a mistake and I've made one too. But the way I've caught myself out, that's how everybody should do it. We lacked determination, ambition and sharpness.' That's right! Nothing went right for Leverkusen after the restart. A double whammy from Weghorst (55') and Steffen (60') sealed the away win for Wolfsburg."
The Rheinische Post headline reads 'Perfect false start from Bayer' and the paper identified the double blow at the start of the second half as the decisive phase of the game: "Weghorst headed Bruno Labbadia's team into a 2-1 lead on 55 minutes. The Werkself looked shaky after going behind. Just as Herrlich reorganised his defence, the Wolves scored the next goal. Renato Steffen exploited the completely disorganised defence of the hosts to make it 3-1 on 60 minutes… Herrlich then gave Paulinho his Bundesliga, and Isaac Kiese Thelin his home debut. The 26,247 fans at the BayArena waited in vain for a fight-back from the ambitious hosts. The game ended with a deserved 3-1 win for the visitors."
The Sonntags Express looks ahead and describes the difficult situation: "It's off to Munich next. And a third defeat threatens away to Bayern. 'We won't moan and look for excuses. We have to grit our teeth and look to turn it round," said Ramazan Özcan. The coach was also disappointed: 'Two defeats don't meet our expectations. No points is a difficult situation. It will be a tough challenge in Munich and we have to be more organised in defence."
After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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Newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg will begin the 2026/27 season as Bundesliga club number 59. The Saarland club start their first Bundesliga campaign at home to the Werkself on Saturday, 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST) at the URSAPHARM Arena on Kaiserlinde, which is currently being rebuilt. For one Leverkusen player in the ‘Elv’ line-up, the clash will be a special reunion. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Ernest Poku is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen to play in the Turkish Süper Lig. The club has loaned the Dutch winger to Beşiktaş for one year. If certain criteria are met, the Istanbul club – who finished fourth in the Turkish top flight last season – will be obliged to make the move permanent.
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