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."
Kicking off the new season with a fresh look: Bayer 04, in collaboration with sportswear manufacturer New Balance, has unveiled the official kit for Leverkusen’s e-Sports players for the coming season. The jersey is now available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
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Paulo Sergio and Bayer 04 have enjoyed close ties since the Werkself training camp in his native Brazil last summer. The club legend is in charge of the Bayer 04 Soccer Academy, which opened in the summer of 2025, and he has also been at this year’s training camp in the Weimarer Land. As well as interacting with the many fans who travelled to the camp, the 1994 World Cup winner used the time to plan the next steps for the Academy together with club officials. In an interview with bayer04.de, Sergio spoke about the project’s future development, the upcoming visit by young Academy players to Leverkusen, and plans for the coming months in Germany and Brazil.
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day five (Thursday 6 August) is as follows: The squad have the final open session of the training camp in the morning. After lunch, there will be a team event.
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day four (Wednesday 5 August) is all about training. The day begins with a gruelling open training session – new signing Miguel Gutiérrez also takes part. A second session follows in the afternoon, this time behind closed doors.
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At the training camp in the Weimarer Land region, Bayer 04 head coach Carles Martínez and his long-standing assistant Pol García talk about their first few weeks with the Werkself, their expectations of their own work, the coaching staff and the squad, as well as the style of football they want the team to play. They emphasise the importance of a winning mentality within the team, comment on cultural and personal differences in the world of football, and outline their goals for the coming season...
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