Roger Schmidt was able to pick from a large number of established players and gave most of them at least 45 minutes in the new red away kit. The Werkself had to recover from going behind early on in the game. Porto’s striker André Silva exploited a mistake in the Leverkusen defence on eight minutes to give the Portuguese the lead.
Roger Schmidt’s team, having trained at the BayArena in the morning and with Lars Bender sidelined, took a while to recover from the setback. Kyriakos Papadopoulos rose to meet a corner from the lively Hakan Calhanoglu and directed a header goalward but the Spanish European Championship and World Cup winner Iker Casillas was able to make the save on 24 minutes. The game developed into an open encounter with the Werkself pressing for an equaliser. However, Chicharito, Kevin Volland and Co. were unable to find the back of net straight away.
Impressive equaliser
That all changed after the restart. Schmidt brought on André Ramalho and Admir Mehmedi and Calhanoglu went just wide with a long-range effort on 48 minutes. Leverkusen were rewarded for all their efforts ten minutes later: Volland picked out his strike partner Chicharito with a breathtaking disguised pass in the penalty area and the Mexican was hand to curl the ball over the keeper to level the scores at 1-1. An impressive combination of the two strikers to whet the appetite for more.
Chicharito went off shortly after that to be replaced by Joel Pohjanpalo making his first appearance after his loan period at Fortuna Düsseldorf. And the agile Finn fitted in at once. He looked to get on the end of a cross from another substitute Levin Öztunali but the ball went just wide of the target. Shortly after that, Öztunali almost netted a winner but his header from a Mehmedi cross also failed to find the target. The game ended 1-1.
Off to Austria on Thursday
While FC Porto have almost completed an eleven-day training camp in Kamen-Kaiserau the Werkself are about to start the busy phase of the pre-season. The Bayer 04 squad, management and support staff head for Zell am See in Kaprun, Austria on Thursday for a training camp designed to lay the foundations for the coming campaign.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Özcan – Hilbert (Akkaynak 74’), Papadopoulos (Ramalho 46’), Toprak (Cacutalua 82’), Henrichs – Kampl, Calhanoglu (Yurchenko 62’, Havertz 76’) – Bellarabi (Öztunali 62’), Brandt (Mehmedi 46’) – Volland (Schreck 75’), Chicharito (Pohjanpalo 62’).
Goals: 0-1 André Silva (8’), 1-1 Chicharito (58’)
Calling all Bayer 04 fans: The Werkself will play Pisa SC, newly promoted to Serie A, at the BayArena as part of the season opener. The clash with the club from Tuscany is on Tuesday, 5 August with the kick-off at 18:00 CET. Entrance to the stadium with a wide range of entertainment provided is possible from 15:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales for the season opener.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen have signed the 17-year-old forward Dustin Buck. The Germany youth international joins from the youth set-up at FC Augsburg. The technically gifted and fast attacker will strengthen the Werkself U19 squad.
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Show moreA new look and new kit supplier for the 2025/26 campaign: Bayer 04 in tandem with sports equipment manufacturer New Balance present the official kit for the Leverkusen eSports players the coming season. New partner Sinology appears on the top right of the jersey. Menswear outfitters Lerros is still the main eSports sponsor and Niedax remains the sleeve partner. The jersey is available now from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
Show moreThe Werkself will welcome Serie A newcomers Pisa SC to the BayArena for a friendly on Tuesday, 5 August (kick-off: 18:00 CEST / stadium opens: 15:00) as part of the season opener celebrations. Bayer 04 will offer fans a lively and varied supporting programme on the stadium concourse. Ahead of kick-off, both the men's and women's senior squads will be introduced on the pitch.
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