Head coach Gerardo Seoane made two changes to his team from last week’s 3-0 win at Mainz. Both were enforced, with Piero Hincapie and Mitchel Bakker suspended. Odilon Kossounou and Daley Sinkgraven came in. But before the action got under way, there was a minute’s silence at the BayArena – and at all other grounds around the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 this matchday – to mark the 50th anniversary of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
As in Mainz, Bayer 04 were playing in all black and starting with a back three, with Jeremie Frimpong and Sinkgraven the wing-backs. After an even start to proceedings, it was the first attack of note that brought the opening goal as Kossounou got into the box down the right and squared the ball, where Demirbay tucked away from close range among the bodies with 16 minutes gone. The next attack also came from Leverkusen, but Schick only struck the side netting, before he was also denied by Mark Flekken on 35 minutes. Moussa Diaby was also thwarted by the Freiburg goalkeeper shortly before the break, so it remained 1-0 at half-time.
The second half couldn’t have got off to a much worse start for Bayer 04. Matthias Ginter first headed in the equaliser from a Vincenzo Grifo corner three minutes after the restart before Michael Gregoritsch tapped home a Woo-yeong Jeong square ball to put Freiburg ahead on 51 minutes. It demanded a response from the Werkself, so Seoane sent on Sardar Azmoun, Charles Aranguiz and new signing Hudson-Odoi just after the hour. And those changes paid off.
It was the England international’s cross from the left that found Schick in the middle, and he headed home a deserved equaliser with 65 minutes on the clock. Leverkusen had fought back after a brief wobble and – like before half-time – were throwing themselves into challenges. However, Lukas Hradecky & Co. were hit with another setback as Freiburg put away just their third telling opportunity of the game when Ritsu Doan forced the ball home. Even with 18 minutes still to play, there was no way back again for Bayer 04 as they remain without a point at home this season after three games.
The Werkself now face back-to-back away games. First they kick off the new Champions League season away at Belgian champions Club Brugge on Wednesday, 7 September. They’re back in Bundesliga action at Hertha Berlin just three days later.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Kossounou, Tah (Aranguiz 60'), Tapsoba – Frimpong, Andrich (Amiri 78'), Palacios (Hudson-Odoi 60'), Sinkgraven (Fosu-Mensah 78') – Demirbay (Azmoun 60') – Diaby, Schick
Freiburg: Flekken – Ginter, Lienhart, Gulde (Doan 46') – Sildillia, Keitel (Eggestein 46'), Höfler, Günter – Sallai (Jeong 9'), Gregoritsch (Schlotterbeck 79'), Grifo (Petersen 79')
Goals: 1-0 Demirbay (16'), 1-1 Ginter (48'), 1-2 Gregoritsch (51'), 2-2 Schick (65'), 2-3 Doan (72')
Yellow cards: Tah, Amiri – Höfler, Gregoritsch
Referee: Sascha Stegemann
Attendance: 26,853 at the BayArena
It's time for the first friendly of this summer's pre-season: the Werkself visit Rot-Weiss Essen this evening, Friday 26 July (kick-off 19:00 CEST). All the info on the match at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße.
Show moreMartin Terrier's great anticipation for his first season outside his native France was noticeable. The 27-year-old forward beamed as he described his reasons for the move to the German double winners and his first impressions of day-to-day life in Leverkusen in his first press conference as a Werkself player. Terrier, who like team-mate has joined from Stade Rennes, also spoke about the competition for places in attack, Bayer 04's profile in France and his unusual goal celebration.
Show moreTime to roll up the sleeves and do some good again: At what was now the eighth edition of the BAYER 04 HILFT Day, staff and players once again dedicated an entire day to a good cause this year. Following last year's efforts at NaturGut Ophoven, this time the Bayer 04 team restored the outdoor area of a Leverkusen children's day-care centre with great support from Lebenshilfe-Werkstätten Leverkusen and club partner Coca-Cola.
Show moreWith weloveholidays, Bayer 04 Leverkusen welcomes another official partner to the German champions and DFB Cup winners’ Sponsors Club. As part of the British loveholidays group, weloveholidays is one of Europe’s biggest and fastest growing online travel companies. The partnership between the Bundesliga club and the company, which has been active in Germany since May 2023, is set to run until 30 June 2026.
Show more