The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger headline reads: "Bayer storm into the knockout rounds." The report continues: "Bayer 04 were in the mood for a win – and a cracker as in the first game against Nice." The journal dug up an historic fact: The starting eleven head coach Peter Bosz fielded on the Côte d'Azur, with the oldest in the club's history in this competition.
The highest marks went to Aleksandar Dragovic, Nadiem Amiri and Moussa Diaby.
The Kölnische Rundschau declared the Black and Reds were "hungry for goals", which is confirmed by the fact the Werkself have scored the most goals (17) of all the teams in the Europa League after five out of six group matches. Commenting on the opening stages: "Leverkusen grabbed hold of the game and pressed for an early lead. […] The hosts were hardly involved in the match. Kerem Demirbay set up Diaby's opener with an impressive chipped pass."
"To dispel all doubts about progressing to the next round, Peter Bosz opted for an experienced team in this away game," was the start of the match report in the Rheinische Post. The Werkself were 2-1 up at half-time, which the paper describes as deserved "due to control of the game and the better chances."
The headline in the Bild reads: "Despite trouble with the ref! Bayer express train races through to next round." With the headline, the newspaper addresses the top performances of selected Werkself players. The explanation: "Express train because the outstanding Demirbay set up the opening goal with a world-class pass, which the Frenchman Moussa Diaby (22') converted with a volley – a magical goal. Express train because Aleksandar Dragovic smashed in a volley from an Amiri corner to make it 2-1 (32')."
In the view of the tabloid, the Werkself could have scored more goals. A follow-up explains: "Just annoying that the Italian ref Maurizio Mariani denied a clear penalty (foul on Diaby/5') and a goal from Schick (not offside/24'). VAR is only available in the Europa League from the knockout rounds. But Leverkusen are now through…"
With twelve points, Slavia Prague are now also through to the knockout rounds. The two teams meet at the BayArena next Thursday 10 December (kick-off: 18.55 CET) "in the final to win the group."
The fixture details for the Bayer 04 Women’s first match in the 2026/27 DFB Pokal has been confirmed: As announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday morning, the Leverkusen Women will face second-tier side FC Viktoria Berlin in the first round on Sunday 27 September at 14:00 CEST.
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Once again, well over 100 Werkself fans were delighted to receive an invitation from the club’s record appearance-maker, Rüdiger Vollborn, to the sold-out Schwadbud at the BayArena. This time, the supporters listened as the club historian provided fascinating, exclusive insights into the period from Bayer 04 being founded in 1904 to the club’s promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979. A journey through time is also planned for the upcoming ‘Rudi lädt ein’ event in early November – this time focusing on the years of the Nazi regime.
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Getting in the mood for the new season together, exchanging ideas and looking ahead to the coming months: Bayer 04 welcomed partners to the BayArena for the annual sponsors season-launch event. In a relaxed atmosphere, the management, head coach and players came together with representatives from partner companies to celebrate the start of the 2026/27 season.
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Happy children’s faces at the SSV Lützenkirchen training ground: For the 25th time, the Birkenberg soccer school – organised by SportBund Leverkusen – offered participating youngsters an exciting holiday activity. Meeting a Bayer 04 player has now become a cherished tradition. This time, Ibrahim Maza visited the 150 children and spoke to them about his World Cup experiences, amongst other things. “It’s always lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm for football,” said the 20-year-old, after bringing a sparkle to many eyes with selfies and autographs.
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