
The first match
...took place on matchday six in the 1979/80 season. The two teams shared a 1-1 draw at the Haberland Stadium in front of a crowd of 22,000. Klaus Bruckmann headed in a cross from Dieter Herzog to give Bayer 04 the lead on 72 minutes. FC Köln striker Dieter Müller levelled the scores from a corner with eight minutes to play.
The first win
...was a 2-1 victory for Leverkusen in 1983/84. That was the ninth derby between the two clubs in the Bundesliga. Klaus Allofs put FC Köln 1-0 up after just four minutes before goals from Herbert Waas (34') and Bum-kun Cha (57') turned it round.
The first win in Cologne
...came with a 3-2 win for Bayer 04 on matchday 21 in the 1985/86 campaign. Klaus Allofs netted a brace on six and nine minutes to give Kölna 2-0 lead. Eric Ribbeck's team responded decisively after the break. Thomas Zechel pulled a goal back (51'), Bum-kun Cha levelled (72') and Herbert Waas netted the winner (78').
The most goals in a game
...between the two Rhineland rivals came in a game at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium in May 1985. A spectacular encounter produced an entertaining 4-4 draw. Christian Schreier's opener (22') was cancelled out by Pierre Littbarski (25'), who also made it 2-2 (39') after Dirk Schlegel had restored Leverkusen's lead (36'). Hans-Peter Lehnhoff (44') and Manfred Lefkes (50') scored to put FC 4-2 up before a brace from Herbert Waas (64'/75') put the Werkself level for the last time the game.
The biggest wins
…against FC were a 4-0 win for Bayer 04 in November 1997 with a strike from Erik Meijer (18') followed by an Ulf Kirsten hat-trick (37'/89'/90') plus a 5-1 victory in November 2014. Köln took an early lead with a penalty scored by Matthias Lehmann on four minutes but the Werkself struck back with two goals from Karim Bellarabi (26'/90') and Josip Drmic (79'/88') and one from Hakan Calhanoglu (61').
The longest run
...was achieved by Bayer 04 between 1996/97 (4-0 in Cologne) and 2010/11 (2-0 in Cologne). Leverkusen went 14 consecutive games without defeat against FC Köln with ten wins and four draws.
The most goals
...against FC were scored by prolific goalscorers. Ulf Kirsten (pictured above) heads the list by far with 12 goals against FC. Behind Ulf are Herbert Waas (six) and Arne-Larsen Ökland (four). Amongst the current Bayer 04 first team squad, Stefan Kießling, Lars Bender, Julian Brandt and Karim Bellarabi have all scored twice for the Werkself against FC Köln.

90 football-loving girls and special support in autumnal weather: The third Bayer 04 Women’s team junior talent day was a hive of activity at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre on Sunday, 26 October. Under the watchful eyes of Sofie Zdebel and Charlotte Voll, talented youngsters born between 2010 and 2017 showed off their skills on the ball - and received valuable tips from the professionals.
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The Werkself travel to Manchester City for matchday 5 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. The match at the top English club is on Tuesday, 25 November, with the kick-off at 21:00 CET. Read on for information on ticket sales.
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After Bayer 04's 2-0 win against SC Freiburg on Bundesliga matchday 8, Edmond Tapsoba, Jarell Quansah and Ernest Poku spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-0 win against SC Freiburg on the 8th matchday of the Bundesliga 2025/26...
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Thanks to a convincing 2-0 win against SC Freiburg, the Werkself celebrated their fourth league victory in a row on Bundesliga matchday 8. Ernest Poku put an impressive and confident Werkself side ahead on 22 minutes. With Jarell Quansah returning to start in central defence, Bayer 04 stood firm defensively and extended their lead shortly after the break through Edmond Tapsoba (52'). Leverkusen, who had an extra man from 74 minutes, also saw Patrik Schick make his comeback as they took this lead over the line with aplomb.
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