Perhaps with a few exceptions, the Werkself brought their supporters a lot of pleasure and inspired passion in 2019. Without doubt, the second half of the season was a big hit. And it creates desire for more. That is underlined by a few stats and facts on the second half of the campaign…
Eleven wins, one draw, five defeats – that was the haul in the second half of the Bundesliga season. With 34 out of a possible 51 points in 2019, Bayer 04 were the third-best team in the league – behind champions Bayern Munich (42) and RB Leipzig (35). In comparison: The Black and Reds collected ten less points up to the winter break (seven wins, three draws, seven defeats). And, over the course of the whole season, no other team had as few draws as the Werkself.
In the second half of the season, the Werkself made up seven points on fourth position. That means they advanced an impressive five positions in the table after matchday 18 – more than any other team in Germany’s top flight. Only newly promoted Fortuna Düsseldorf were equally as effective in 2019. Our Rhineland neighbours climbed up four positions to finish in tenth place.
The father of success has a name: Peter Bosz. The Dutchman took over the Werkself at the start of the year and brought in a new system. Having the courage to play attacking football, taking risks and being disciplined paid off: The ball ended in the back of the opposition net 43 times – only champions Bayern Munich (52) scored more than the Bosz sharpshooters in the second half of the season. Kai Havertz, Kevin Volland and Co. scored on each of the last 16 matchdays – the only team in the Bundesliga to do so! Moreover: 69 goals in the season – the last time the Werkself scored more after matchday 34 was 15 years ago (73 goals in 2003/04).
The Werkself have proved to be very effective above all in the opening stages of games: The ball was in the back of the opposition net eleven times in the first 15 minutes. That was only bettered in the second half of the season by the top team Bayern Munich (12). Eight of those goals were scored by the Werkself in the second half of the season. Kevin Volland was the top Leverkusen striker with 04 goals in the first 15 minutes. The other black and red early birds were Wendell and Kai Havertz (two goals each) plus Mitchell Weiser, Charles Aránguiz and Julian Brandt (1 each).
The Werkself dominated their opponents at times particularly in the second half of the season – in many areas. For example, over the course of the whole season only FC Bayern had more possession (67 per cent) than the Bosz team (61). In terms of completed passes, the Werkself were third with an impressive per cent – behind Bayern Munich (89) and Borussia Dortmund (88). However, Lars Bender and Co. had their noses in front in terms of kilometres covered (4,132.2 km). And that was head of SC Freiburg (4,090.7 km) and TSG Hoffenheim (4,070.7 km).
The biggest win of the second half of the campaign was also the biggest win of the season: The historic 6-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday 32 with seven goals in 36 minutes. It was also the first time the Werkself scored six goals under Peter Bosz. But it was the second time in the season. Before the winter break, the Werkself won 6-2 at Werder Bremen under former coach Heiko Herrlich. The two heaviest defeats for the Werkself were against TSG Hoffenheim: Both the home and away games ended in 4-1 defeats.
The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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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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