The Black and Reds go into 2019 still in three competitions for the first time in three years. At the end of the year, we look back at the stats and facts from the first half of the season:
The Werkself have really got stuck in as the year draws to an end. In the last six Bundesliga fixtures, the Werkself have picked up 13 points, which is more than the eleven earned in the first eleven games of the season – only Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg (16 each) and Borussia Dortmund (15) have been more successful in the league recently. And the Werkself have once again shown that the BayArena can be a fortress for the Black and Reds: The last three home games ended in victory. The last time that happened was in May two years ago.
On the last matchday of the first half of the season, Bayer 04 secured a 3-1 victory over Hertha Berlin to move up to eighth place – just one goal worse off than the team from Berlin on the same points. Nevertheless, Kevin Volland, Kai Havertz and co. have made an historic achievement: The Werkself have finished in the top half of the German top flight after the first half of the season for 13 campaigns in succession – of all rival clubs across the country, only record champions Bayern Munich can look back at a longer run. It's even more impressive that such consistency has been achieved by just two clubs: FC Bayern, in the top half of the winter break this term for the 27th time in succession, and Bayer 04 (17 seasons; between 1985 and 2001).
In the first half of the season Werkself supporters have been able to celebrate a total of 47 goals: six of them in the DFB Cup, 15 in the Europa League and 26 in the Bundesliga – matching the position in the table, the ninth best return. The goals have been scored by 15 different players – that's already more than in the past two (half) seasons. Across all competitions, the Black and Red goalscorers lists is as follows: Kai Havertz (9 goals), Karim Bellarabi (8), Kevin Volland, Lucas Alario (bpth 7), Julian Brandt (3), Aleksandar Dragovic, Tin Jedvaj, Dominik Kohr, Mitchell Weiser (all on 2), Leon Bailey, Lars Bender, Julian Brandt, Jonathan Tah, Isaac Kiese Thelin, Paulinho and Wendell (all on 1). The providers were Brandt, Havertz, Volland (all on 6), Bailey (5), Bellarabi, Lars Bender, Kohr, Weiser (all on 3), Alario, Charles Aránguiz (both 2) plus Sven Bender, Dragovic, Kiese Thelin and Wendell (all on 1).
There is no question that the first half of the season has run like clockwork for Kai Havertz: Goals, assists, his debut for Germany and non-stop gushing praise. But the 19-year-old has absolutely deserved the accolades due to his outstanding performances. It is no coincidence, Heiko Herrlich rarely left out the Werkself number 29: With 1,943 minutes on the pitch he leads the Black and Red top three – ahead of Wendell (1,813) and Lukas Hradecky (1,800). The least time spent on the pitch by a member of the first team squad was the eight minutes for the Poland U20 international Jukub Bednarczyk in the final group match in the Europa League.I
The biggest win for the Werkself came on matchday nine with a 6-2 victory away to Werder Bremen – it was also the first and last time six goals were scored in a league fixture under Heiko Herrlich. The biggest defeat for the Werkself came a week later – with a 4-1 reverse at home to TSG Hoffenheim on matchday ten.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
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The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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