Without the nine players on international duty plus Leon Bailey, who is still in quarantine after a private party, the Werkself were led out for the only pre-season friendly by the new captain Charles Aránguiz. The visitors came into the game with plenty of match practice – the Belgian league started at the beginning of August. The results to date for the team eighth in the league: one win, three draws.
Bayer 04 made the better start in the friendly. Exequiel Palacios put the Werkself ahead on six minutes with a curler from ten yards out. Anderlecht did compete well and the game developed into an evenly-balanced encounter. Mohammed Dauda scored the equaliser for RSC in the middle of the first half. The Ghanaian beat Niklas Lomb in goal for Bayer 04 against the Belgians in place of Lukas Hradecky as the Finn is away on international duty (21’). The goalscorer had the chance to put his side ahead a quarter of an hour later but he put his shot just past the right-hand post. It was all-square at half-time.
Head coach Peter Bosz made two changes to his line-up at the break: Florian Wirtz came on for goalscorer Palacios, Wendell replaced Daley Sinkgraven at left-back. The 17-year-old Wirtz led the way in livening up the attack. Also due to the intensive training sessions of the past few days, there were few decent goalscoring opportunities for the Werkself in the second half. As Anderlecht were also unable to find the back of the net, the match ended in a deserved draw.
“It was a very good friendly against a strong team,” said Bosz after the game. “That was fun. Of course, they are much further on as they’ve already played four matches. But we did a good job. I’m happy.”
The Werkself are back in competitive action next week in the first round of the DFB Cup. On Sunday, 13 September (kick-off: 15.30 CET/live on Sky and Werks11 Radio), the Regional League North outfit Eintracht Norderstedt visit the BayArena.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Lomb – L. Bender (Weiser 68’), S. Bender (Retsos 68’), Tapsoba, Sinkgraven (Wendell 46’) – Aránguiz (Türkmen 89’), Demirbay – Bellarabi, Palacios (Wirtz 46’), Amiri – Alario (Onur 89’)
Goals: 1-0 Palacios (6’), 1-1 Dauda (21’)
Bayer 04 will have to manage without attacking midfielder Martin Terrier for the time being. The Frenchman sustained a muscle injury to his left hamstring yesterday, Thursday 15 October, during the Europa League game against Polish champions Lech Poznan (4–0). Terrier is not expected to be available until late December.
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Following the international break, the Bayer 04 women’s team face their next head-to-head clash in the race for a top spot in the Bundesliga. In Saturday’s home match (14:00 CEST), the fourth-placed side host third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Head coach Roberto Pätzold is well aware of the great opportunity this presents for his team.
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Keep the momentum going against the current league leaders: On Sunday, 18 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST), the Werkself – unbeaten in their last six matches – host SC Freiburg at the BayArena. For their part, Freiburg have yet to lose a single game this season. Ahead of the clash with SCF, head coach Carles Martínez spoke about the team spirit within his squad and the strengths of the upcoming opponents. The Spaniard also commented on Martin Terrier and the attacking options available in the squad.
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Malik Tillman described Leverkusen’s first European competition game in Poland in more than three decades as a “successful trip”. On matchday 2 in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League, the Werkself secured a commanding 4–0 victory away at champions Lech Poznan, a result that brought a number of positives. This fourth win in a row should also provide further momentum for the upcoming home fixture. The Werkself review of the Europa League night in Poland.
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