According to the online edition of the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, the Werkself missed a great chance against Freiburg with the following result: "Bayer are moving further and further away from their targets. Up to the winter break the intention appears to be to muddle through and then start again – although it could already be the case that it's too late to seriously challenge for one of the top spots. And, in addition: It wouldn't harm to practise penalties.”
And the online edition of the Rheinische Post also saw the chance to win as absolutely clear: "After the break… the hosts, weakened by bad luck with injuries, looked like they had the upper hand. However, in front of the Freiburg goal Leverkusen were, without strikers Kevin Volland and Admir Mehmedi, more or less harmless. After a good opportunity for Chicharito, Julian Brandt did good work to set up Calhanoglu. After the restart, the substitute Joel Pohjanpalo and Chicharito both had chances to make it 2-1 against a Freiburg side that appeared to lack confidence."
The Sonntags Express was keen to discover the reason for the "Fear of the striker at penalties": Bayer and the penalty problem! It's the most absurd story of the season.… 11 of the last 19 penalties have been missed. This season, the Werkself players missed all four attempts from the spot – if you count the Cup exit at Lotte, then it's seven. Against Frankfurt, Augsburg, Leipzig and now Freiburg this miserable streak has already cost Bayer six important points.' At some point the bloody ball has to go in. Things like that are costing us wins. It just can't be true,' said a miffed Kevin Kampl."
Bild am Sonntag identifies another important reason for the draw; the outstanding performance of the Freiburg goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow: "BamS top mark is for his super saves. The Freiburg keeper Alexander Schwolow (24) secured a vital point in Leverkusen. 18 months ago he was still playing in the third division for Arminia Bielefeld. And yesterday he became a Freiburg hero. Saved the Chicharito penalty with his foot. Schwolow on the penalty:' I just stood still by intuition and reacted to the ball. Of course, I was lucky the ball didn't rebound to Chicharito. Brilliant!'"
And, in the view of the Freiburg-based Badische Zeitung, it was Schwolow who primarily frustrated Chicharito: "Schwolow becomes the match winner – First the Mexican has a close range effort saved by Schwolow (52'), then he heads the ball wide of the goal (58'). The poor finishing ran through the game like a thread as even Calhanoglu and the substitute Joel Pohjanpalo were unable to beat Schwolow. And then he saved Chicharito's penalty with his foot and was justifiably thanked by his team-mates.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
Show more
No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
Show more
The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
Show more
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.
Show more
