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.
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.
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.
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.)
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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