
Bayer 04 started their second pre-season friendly with new signing Jarell Quansah making his debut, while the meeting acted as Bochum's dress rehearsal before the start of the Bundesliga 2 season next week. Patrik Schick had the first two attempts of the game, with Nathan Tella then having the goal at his mercy as Leverkusen went on the attack early on. After another nice combination, Jonas Hofmann's shot was blocked at the last moment.
It took another five minutes for Erik ten Hag's side to be rewarded for their efforts, when Hofmann buried a pinpoint cross from Alejandro Grimaldo in the 23rd minute. The over 1,500 travelling fans from Leverkusen were witnessing a good display from their team, who weren't really troubled defensively until the 39th minute, when Mats Pannewig's effort from close range produced a superb reflex save from Bayer 04 keeper Mark Flekken. The hosts enjoyed their best spell at the end of the first half, but the next goal was scored by Schick with a clinical finish in the first minute of stoppage time.









The restart saw debutants Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane introduced as well as Lukas Hradecky and Axel Tape. The first opportunity in the second period fell to Bochum substitute Ibrahim Sissoko, but the summer signing could only strike the outside of the post. With around an hour played, the string of substitutes began - and the game became rather flat as a result. Genuine goalscoring opportunities were in short supply until the final whistle, as the Bayer 04 defence stood firm and inflicted a first defeat of pre-season on Bochum.








The Werkself continue with their next friendly on Friday night, 1 August at 19:00 CEST away to Dutch top-flight side Fortuna Sittard.
Match stats:
Bochum: Horn - Passlack (Rösch 46'), Morgalla (Lenz 73'), Strompf (Loosli 73'), Vogt (Kleine-Bekel 73'), Wittek (Koscierski 61') - Pannewig (Onyeka 61'), Ibrahima Sissoko (Miyoshi 80'), Bero (Wätjen 61') - Hofmann (Ibrahim Sissoko 46'), Broschinski (Clairicia 62')
Bayer 04: Flekken (Hradecky 46') - Quansah (Hawighorst 73'), Andrich (Traoré 88'), Tapsoba [Tape 46') - Arthur (Culbreath 61'), Xhaka (Boniface 77'), Palacios (J. Mensah 63'), Grimaldo (Adli 63') - Hofmann (Sarco 75'), Tella (Maza 46') - Schick (Kofane 46')
Goals: 0-1 Hofmann (24'), 0-2 Schick (45'+1)
Yellow cards: Vogt / Kofane
Referee: Felix Weller (Osnabrück)
Attendance: 15,788 at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion

In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...

After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
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Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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