2-1 at Newcastle – Werkself triumph in dress rehearsal

Head coach Carles Martínez made five changes to his starting line-up from the 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest in midweek, with Loïc Badé, Miguel Gutiérrez, Lucas Vázquez, Ezequiel Fernández, Malik Tillman and Ibrahim Maza keeping their places. And the latter made it a dream start at St. James' Park! From the kick-off, Leverkusen got it forward quickly with Maza playing in Christian Kofane. The Cameroonian turned and played it back to the Algerian, who buried the ball from around 17 metres with his left foot to make it 1-0 with less than a minute played.

Thiaw equalises after maza thunderbolt

The hosts recovered from the early shock and came into the game, but Mark Flekken saved efforts from Yoane Wissa and Harvey Barnes. The action in front of both goals quietened down after that, until a minute before the end of the first half, when Newcastle captain and ex-Leverkusen defender Malick Thiaw headed in the equaliser from a corner to level the score at half-time.

Martínez made a double substitution at the break and one of those introduced, Patrik Schick, set up Afonso Moreira for an attempt in the 51st minute. Shortly after, the Portuguese was involved again, shooting just wide after a solo run.

super sub boniface hits winner

Martínez brought on more fresh legs as his side increasingly pushed to restore their lead, including Martin Terrier and youngster Kenan Doganay in the 70th minute and Victor Boniface along with returnee Nathan Tella introduced 10 minutes later. And it was Boniface who put the Werkself back in front in style just two minutes after coming on, beating one defender with a feint before curling the ball low into the far corner. Having worked hard for their lead, Leverkusen saw out the remainder of the game with disciplined defensive work to claim a 2-1 victory in the final 2026/27 pre-season friendly.

up next: cup opener at Wiesbaden

Attention now turns to the first competitive match of the new season. Leverkusen travel to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal next Saturday, 22 August. Kick-off at the BRITA-Arena is at 13:00 CEST.

Match stats:

Newcastle United: Hornicek – M. Miley (Pivas 80'), Thiaw, Botman, Hall - Steur, L. Miley - Elanga, Woltemade (Neaves 86'), Barnes - Wissa

Bayer 04: Flekken - Vázquez (Tape 46'), Tapsoba, Badé, Gutiérrez (Belocian 70') - Garcia, Fernández (Terrier 70') - Tillman (Doganay 70'), Maza (Boniface 80'), Moreira (Tella 80') - Kofane (Schick 46')

Tore: 0:1 Maza (1.), 1:1 Thiaw (44.), 1:2 Boniface (82.)