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."
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
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