"It was a decent to good performance by us," declared Heiko Herrlich after the fourth win on the bounce without conceding. The 46-year-old coach again bemoaned the fact the margin of victory wasn't more emphatic. "Due to the conditions this week, we weren't as tired going into the game," said Herrlich referring to the adjusted training regime due to the hot weather of the past few days. "We gave the ball away too often in the first half and that cost us a lot of energy. We did better in the second half – and we created some good chances – we should have scored one or two more goals. But the positives is: We didn't concede any chances from open play but did from set pieces, " added Herrlich.
The Bayer 04 head coach again had to manage without a number of his players against the newcomers to the Dutch top flight: Lukas Hradecky (jaw), Joel Pohjanpalo (ankle), Panos Retsos (rehab), Charles Aránguiz (knee), Chinedu Ekene (muscular problems), Karim Bellarabi (rested), Tin Jedvaj (holiday) and Julian Brandt (joins the squad tomorrow) were all unavailable. In contrast to the previous friendlies against Roßbach (7-0), Siegen (3-0) and Wuppertal (2-0), Herrlich decided not play any of the U19s from the start.
The Werkself were on the front foot from the kick-off in front of 3,000 fans at the Fortuna Sittard Stadium – but shots on goal were a rarity. On 25 minutes, Kevin Volland showed his crafty side as he hit a volley from the edge of the box into the top corner to give Bayer 04 the lead. This spurred on the hosts and they then had their own chances on goal: Sittard's best chance saw a free kick from the left hit the post on 29 minutes. Not much else happened after that– so the Herrlich team took the narrow lead into the break.
There was just one change at half-time for Bayer 04: Benny Henrichs replaced Wendell on the left side of the defence. "We wanted to get to the point that the players are for more than a half and go that extra mile. And that's why we're looking to give them more time on the pitch," explained Herrlich after the game. The Bayer 04 coach made seven changes in total – that included new signing Paulinho making his debut for Leverkusen. Four minutes after he came on, the Werkself had reason to celebrate again: Henrichs completed a one-two with Lucas Alario brilliantly to make it 2-0 on 76 minutes. The result could have been clearer in the closing stages but an effort from talented young Brazilian was ruled out for supposedly being offside. Nevertheless, Paulinho did make a good impression that provides hope for the future. "He did very well in the short time he was on the pitch. He showed why we signed him – he was very mobile, posed a great threat in front of goal and worked well with the team. But, of course, we can't forget Fortuna Sittard are obviously not a fair benchmark. We'll face tougher opponents in the Bundesliga," said Herrlich.
Following this fourth friendly, the Bayer 04 squad head off to a one-week training camp in Zell am See-Kaprun tomorrow, which also includes another two friendlies. Herrlich: "We're not up to speed at the moment. To get there, we'll continue to work well and intensively at the training camp to slowly get back into our normal rhythm"
Bayer 04: Özcan – Weiser (Henrichs 46'), Tah, S. Bender (Dragovic 80'), Wendell (Henrichs 46') – Baumgartlinger, Kohr (L. Bender 65') – Volland (Paulinho 72'), Havertz (Azhil 80'), Bailey (Schreck 80') – Alario
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…
Show moreTo all Bayer 04 fans: The Fanwelt will be closed all day next Monday 30 June. This is due to preparations for the change of kit supplier from Castore to New Balance on Tuesday 1 July.
Show moreThe Norway U23 international Julie Jorde has completed the move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Brøndby IF. The twelve-time champions of Denmark have signed the midfielder on permanent terms after her loan move from the Bundesliga to Denmark in the winter.
Show moreIt is almost two years since Bayer 04 new signing Abdoulaye Faye first stepped foot into the BayArena as a player for the Swedish club BK Häcken in the opening match in the 2023/24 Europa League campaign. A day before his nineteenth birthday, the central defender did not play in the 4-0 win for the Werkself but it was "an incredible night" for him on 21 September 2023 as he explained in his first interview on bayer04.de. "I watched the players and saw the fans. I liked it." It was also the first European night early on in his career. He only joined the then champions of Sweden in the cold north of Europe from his home in Senegal a few weeks before that special moment. Bayer04.de profiles our new defender.
Show moreWelcome, Abdoulaye Faye. The 20-year-old Senegalese central defender joins Leverkusen from top-flight Swedish club BK Häcken. In his first interview he talks about his move to Bayer 04 and his targets with the Werkself.
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