Schwaab sees red in 3-2 defeat (2010)
Shortly after the restart in the game at Eintracht Frankfurt, Stefan Kießling – with his second goal of the game – turned the game round to give Bayer 04 a 2-1 lead (46'). However, Frankfurt's Caio equalised (62') and Maik Franz scored late on with an overhead kick to put Eintracht 3-2 up (89'). To cap it all, the Werkself player Daniel Schwaab was shown the red card in this game.
Vidal secures victory (2011)
On matchday 31 in the 2010/11 season, the Black and Reds entertained TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The visitors made the better start and went ahead through Gylfi Sigurdsson just before the half-hour mark (28'). Michael Kadlec equalised (40') before Arturo Vidal netted the winner in the second half (55'). The three points from this game put Bayer 04 second in the Bundesliga. That's the position the Werkself finished in at the end of the season.
A win at Fortuna (2013)
In front of over 50,000 fans in Düsseldorf, the Werkself were in good form as they beat Fortuna 4-1. The goals on that Easter Saturday was scored by Stefan Kießling and André Schürrle – both bagged a brace.
Spahic and Co. find back of the net (2014)
Easter Sunday in 2014 undoubtedly belonged to Bayer 04 defenders. Central defender Emir Spahic scored twice against FC Nürnberg with left back Sebastian Boenisch and substitute defender Roberto Hilbert also getting on the scoresheet – final score: 4-1. "Strong in challenges, solid build-up play, clinical finishing – a central defender cannot play better," said Kicker back then in summing up the performance of Spahic.
Two-goal tally for Kies and Castro (2015)
On Holy Saturday in 2015, the two goalscorers stood out that afternoon: In front of a sold-out BayArena, Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling, who else could it be, both scored twice. The Werkself under coach Roger Schmidt clocked up a convincing 4-0 victory against Hamburg SV who had a caretaker coach in the dugout in the shape of Peter Knäbel.
Two goalless draws (2017 & 2018)
The result was the same but control of the game was very one-sided in both cases. While the Werkself under Tayfun Korkut had to survive a number of tricky moments against FC Bayern in 2017, Volland and Co. clocked up a shots on goal comparison of 18 to 7 against FC Augsburg a year later with a number of excellent chances missed.
Last home win at Easter (2019)
Easter Saturday at the BayArena last year produced a Black and Red fest. In summer-like temperatures, the Werkself repeated the victory of 2014 against FC Nürnberg. Final score: 2-0 (goalscorers: Kevin Volland and Lucas Alario). The home win was part of an impressive end to the season for Bayer 04 with the team under head coach Peter Bosz finishing up fourth in the table – thus qualifying for the Champions League.
No Easter game in the 2020s
The clash with Nürnberg remains the last on an Easter weekend for two years. The away game at SC Freiburg has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Overview of Easter matches:
2010 – 3-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt
2011 – 2-1 at home to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
2012 – 1-1 at Hamburg SV
2013 – 4-1 at Fortuna Düsseldorf
2014 – 4-1 at FC Nürnberg
2015 – 4-0 at home to Hamburg SV
2016 – No game
2017 – 0-0 at home to FC Bayern Munich
2018 – 0-0 at home to FC Augsburg
2019 – 2-0 at home to FC Nürnberg
2020 – No game due to coronavirus pandemic
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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