The online edition of the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger singles out Bayer 04's defensive solidity: "Heiko Herrlich's team, with a reorganised defence led by Julian Baumgartlinger after numerous absentees , produced a solid to good defensive performance. The Bayer defence was alert and proactive. Goalkeeper Bernd Leno had a very quiet afternoon."
The analysis in the Kicker: "Werder Bremen remained unbeaten in their twelfth Bundesliga home game under coach Florian Kohfeldt. Werder were disappointing up front in the 0-0 draw with Leverkusen but were very determined at the back The Werkself were livelier but were short of ideas in attack... The visitors tried hard but were unable to make the breakthrough."
The Kölner Express summed it up with the following point: "The Werkself now have their final for Champions League qualification on matchday 34 at home to Hannover 96.“ Their reports mentions the strange scene involving Lucas Alario: "It could have turned out worse for the Werkself following a fifth booking for Kevin Volland: Substitute Lucas Alario was also shown a yellow card with five minutes to play. Nobody in the stadium new why. Referee Hartmann withdrew the caution shortly afterwards when the the Video Assistant Bastian Dankert intervened. Luck and bad luck for Heiko Herrlich and his team."
The verdict of the Welt am Sonntag read: "90 minutes of superiority was not enough for Leverkusen to take the next step towards the Champions League against a tame Bremen side."
The online edition of the Rheinische Post reported: "Actually, everything went to plan from a Bayer 04 perspective: Hoffenheim, the closest rivals for fourth place, lost at Stuttgart and Dortmund slipped up against Mainz. Leverkusen, playing against coach Florian Kohfeldt's Bremen side still unbeaten at home, missed numerous chances. The 0-0 draw puts them level on points with Hoffenheim – and sets up an exciting showdown on the final matchday of the season... Leverkusen tried to land the knock-out blow right to the end but the Bremen defence held firm."
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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The Werkself began 2026 with defeat, losing 4-1 at home to VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 16 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga. Jamie Leweling opened the scoring early, with Maximilian Mittelstädt making it 2-0 from a penalty before Leweling again and Deniz Undav increased the lead to 4-0 just before half-time. Alejandro Grimaldo's penalty reduced the deficit midway through the second period.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen has gained a new partner in digital gaming platform Crown Coins, which joins the Bundesliga runners-up's Sponsors Club with immediate effect. The one-and-a-half-year contract runs until 30 June 2027.
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The Werkself host VfB Stuttgart this evening (10 January, 18:30 CET), a side whose recent Bundesliga form has been indifferent but who have regularly produced top performances in the DFB Pokal and UEFA Europa League, and who have a key player back in the squad in striker Ermedin Demirovic. Off the pitch, the BayArena faithful will be able to see the remaining stoppage time live on the video screens. The Matchday News.
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