Head coach Xabi Alonso made three changes to the team that started in the 2-1 win in the opening friendly at Rot-Weiss Essen. Matej Kovar started in goal in place of Lukas Hradecky, while Robert Andrich and Granit Xhaka replaced Arthur and Jonas Hofmann in the starting line-up.
At a sold-out Stade Bollaert-Delelis, where three of the four stands were open in the lower standing tiers, the Werkself started brightly and were rewarded after just six minutes. Amine Adli won the ball high up, Victor Boniface seized on it and rounded Lens' goalkeeper, and although the striker's finish was cleared off the line, the ball fell to new signing Martin Terrier who netted his first goal in a Bayer 04 shirt.
With a 1-0 lead, the German double winners acted with caution and regularly got forward without creating notable goalscoring opportunities. It was the same at the other end as it looked like the visitors would go in at the break with a slender advantage - but Lens struck on the stroke of half-time. Jhoanner Chavez delivered a cross from the left to the head of Wesley Said, who nodded in the equaliser.
Alonso introduced Hradecky, Jonathan Tah, Piero Hincapie, Hofmann and Florian Wirtz for the second half, and the latter was in the heart of the action straight away. After a long ball from Aleix Garcia, the 21-year-old sized up and made it 2-1 to the Werkself with a first-time finish into the far corner. Five minutes later, Hradecky had to turn away a long-range strike from Florian Sotoca. After that the game died down a bit with several substitutions being made, including youngsters Andrea Natali and Ben Hawighorst. But then Lens' Jonathan Gradit had a go from distance in the 84th minute - and scored from virtually nowhere into the corner to make the final score 2-2.
Bayer 04 have two more friendlies against first-class opponents this week. On Wednesday 7 August (kick-off 19:00 CEST), the Werkself visit Arsenal in London. Three days later, Real Betis are the visitors to the BayArena as part of the official season-opening event on Saturday 10 August (15:30 CEST). That's the final friendly before the competitive business begins.
Match stats:
RC Lens starting XI: Samba - Medina, Gradit, Khusanov - Aguilar, Thomasson, Mendy, Fulgini, Chavez - Said, Sotoca
Bayer 04: Kovar (Hradecky 46') - Kossounou (Natali 69'), Andrich (Tah 46'), Tapsoba (Hincapie 46') - Tella (Arthur 60'), Garcia (Puerta 77'), Xhaka (Hofmann 46'), Belocian (Hawighorst 77') - Adli (Hlozek 60'), Terrier (Wirtz 46') - Boniface (Schick 60')
Goals: 0-1 Terrier (6'), 1-1 Said (45'), 1-2 Wirtz (51'), 2-2 Gradit (84')
Yellow cards: Medina, Sotoca / Boniface, Hincapie
Referee: Marc Bollengier
Attendance: 38,223 (sellout) at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis
The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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