"Leverkusen picked up a point against Bremen (1-1) after two league defeats in succession," notes the BILD before going on to consider the situation in the leading group in the table in view of the defeats for Bayern and Leipzig: Bayer 04 "have not let the gap to the top of the table grow any bigger."
The Welt am Sonntag describes the Werkself approach to the game as follows: Bayer sought salvation in controlled attacking. And they had the first chance through Bailey. But he failed to connect properly with the ball from eight metres out on nine minutes."
Overall, the WAZ report sees "the expected picture on the pitch developed at the bitterly cold BayArena. Bremen (…) sat back and got behind the ball. The Werkself had lots of possession but lacked ideas and penetration."
The opening goal from Bremen shortly after the restart was quite a surprise for RP ONLINE. "Although Werder showed hardly any signs of even wanting to score a goal in the first half, the visitors took the lead shortly after the restart," says the match report. "With a free kick from Ludwig Augustinsson, Leverkusen lost sight of Ömer Toprak. (…) It was the first goal in four years for the 31-year-old – back then in a Werkself shirt."
The reaction of the Werkself is described in the EXPRESS as follows: "Bayer pressed for the equaliser. Demirbay's free kick (56') was the next decent chance."
An even better one was to follow. "The Leverkusen equaliser on 70 minutes was initially ruled out by referee Benjamin Cortus," writes the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger in describing the leveller at 1-1. "However, the VAR footage showed that Lucas Alario did not touch the ball with his hand when controlling it before laying off to Patrik Schick who put the ball in the back of the net with the help of Friedl's leg. So the somewhat curious goal was allowed."
The final sentence in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung looks at the much discussed refereeing decision of the day: "As Cortus saw the handball by Mbom just before the end of the game (90+2') as unintentional, Werder deservedly earned a point."
The team departs for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Monday for the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour 2025 from July 14-24. The preseason journey marks a change from recent training camps in the Austrian Alps and Black Forest and we caught up with CEO Fernando Carro to ask him about this summer's visit to Brazil.
Show moreMalik Tillman and the USA could not quite achieve the hoped-for big win in their own country. Last Monday’s final in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in Houston ended up in a 2-1 defeat for the hosts against Mexico. But the Bayer 04 new signing can be very happy with the course of the tournament and his own performances. Tillman was in the starting line-up for all six games. That concluded an impressive season for him after winning the Eredivisie title in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven. Bayer04.de profiles the 23-year-old new signing.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen have signed the USA international Malik Tillman. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder joins the Werkself from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven. Tillman, with German roots and born in Nuremberg, has a contract at Leverkusen to 30 June 2030. He scored 16 goals and provided five assists in 34 games for PSV last season. Three of those goals and two assists were in six matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Show moreThe second friendly and the first goal for the Bayer 04 Women: The Werkself just missed out on their first win in the preseason away to top-flight Dutch side PEC Zwolle. The team led by coach Roberto Pätzold drew 1-1 on Friday afternoon in Wezep. As with the friendly against TSG Hoffenheim (0-2) a number of first-team players were absent. The coach once again shared out time on the pitch for the 20-player squad. The goal of the match was scored by summer signing Vanessa Fudalla (67').
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