Compared with the 2-2 draw in the friendly away to the top-flight French club RC Lens four days ago head coach Xabi Alonso made four changes to his starting line-up: Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong, Piero Hincapie and Florian Wirtz replaced Robert Andrich, Nathan Tella, Jeanuël Belocian and Victor Boniface. Patrik Schick (game time management) and Alejandro Grimaldo (training deficit) did not travel to London. Werkself player Granit Xhaka and Arsenal's Kai Havertz both started the game against their respective former clubs.
The friendly between this year's Champions League participants was action packed from the start – and that included two early goals for the Gunners. First, Oleksandr Zinchenko hit a shot from distance into the far corner (8') and a minute later Leandro Trossard made it 2-0 for Arsenal. The home-grown former Leverkusen player Havertz provided the assist for each goal.
After the double blow from the hosts, the German double winners got into the game having had more possession than in the opening stages of the match. But the team under head coach Mikel Arteta remained in charge with Matej Kovar saving a long-range effort from Trossard on 25 minutes. While the Werkself continued to offer little up front, Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus made it 3-0 on 38 minutes. That was the scoreline at half-time.
Alonso brought on Tella for Frimpong on the right wing for the restart. The Nigerian had the first two chances in the second half (50', 61'). But the next goal again came from the Premier League club: Havertz scored with a tap-in from close range (65'). Tella set up Adam Hlozek ten minutes later for the consolation goal at 4-1 (76'). That was the final result.
Bayer 04 end the week with the official 2024/25 season launch – and with the first match at the BayArena in the new season. The Werkself entertain Real Betis from La Liga on Saturday, 10 August (kick-off: 15.30 CEST). A week later, on Saturday night at 20.30 CEST, there is the Supercup against runners-up VfB Stuttgart with the game also played in Leverkusen.
Match stats:
Arsenal: Raya - White (Nichols 70'), Saliba (Kiwior 46'), Gabriel (Heaven 70'), Zinchenko (Lewis-Skelly 46' ) - Vieira (Saka 46'), Jorginho (Partey 63'), Ödegaard (Nwaneri 63') - Havertz (Nketiah 70’), Jesus (Rice 46'), Trossard (Martinelli 81’)
Bayer 04: Kovar - Kossounou (Arthur 61’), Tah (Andrich 61’), Tapsoba, Hincapie (Belocian 61’) - Garcia, Xhaka (Puerta 80’) - Frimpong (Tella 46’), Wirtz (Hofmann 61’), Terrier (Hlozek 61’) - Adli (Boniface 61’)
Goals: 1-0 Zinchenko (8’), 2-0 Trossard (9’), 3-0 Jesus (38’), 4-0 Havertz (65’), 4-1 Hlozek (76’)
Booked: Puerta
Referee: Sam Barrot
Attendance: 60,704 (sold out) at the Emirates Stadium
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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