Vázquez and Fernández make their debuts in friendly against Viktoria Köln

early lead through Kofane

Under interim coaches Rogier Meijer and Andries Ulderink the Leverkusen team got off to a successful start: On two minutes, Arthur broke forward down the left flank with great pace and fed Christian Kofane up top. With a clever feint, he outfoxed his opponent and then coolly slotted home - 1-0. With a shot by Nathan Tella (14'), a powerful effort from Lucas Vázquez (23') and a low strike from Arthur (30'), the Black and Reds continued to show their attacking prowess, while Loïc Badé and Co. defended well. Janis Blaswich also distinguished himself with an impressive save to deny Viktoria Köln's Lex Tyger Lobinger (19'). The 30-minute first half ended with a 1-0 lead for the Werkself.

Tillman makes it two - Viktoria pull one back

Leverkusen's first notable action in the second half came in the 35th minute: Youth player Jeremiah Mensah struck a free-kick against the right-hand post, the ball bounced to Vázquez, who was fouled in the box and a penalty was awarded. This was converted by Malik Tillman to make it 2-0 (36'). Five minutes later, Kofane tested Viktoria keeper Dudu once again (41'). At the other end, Robin Valesko had a shot saved by Blaswich on 51 minutes. Shortly after that, however, the Bayer 04 goalkeeper was powerless when Raphael Ott placed the ball into the right-hand corner of the net (53'). The Leverkusen team, now with a few more youth players on the pitch, then confidently held on to their lead.

Rolfes: "another step forwards"

After the final whistle, managing director sport Simon Rolfes and Vázquez spoke to the media. Rolfes explained: "Our impressions of training over the last two days and today's game are good. It was a structured performance on and off the pitch, the processes and responses were clear. Everyone knew what to do. The game was another step forward." The 43-year-old had this to say about the latest additions to the squad: "Lucas(Vázquez, ed.) naturally brings a lot of experience and quality to our game, and he and Loïc (Badé, ed.) led the way in terms of communication today. With Equi Fernández you could see that he was getting better every minute. It was important for all of them today."

Vázquez said of the performance and his debut: "Overall, it was a good team performance, even though a lot of players were missing due to the internationals and everything still needs to settle a little." The five-time Champions League winner, who was under contract at Real Madrid until the summer, believes he personally "still has work to do, but I feel good after the first sessions here and I'm ready to get stuck in." Afterwards, Vázquez also made time for the fans in attendance, signing autographs and posing for selfies.

eintracht frankfurt after the international break

Following a short break from training in the second half of the week, the Werkself will be fully focussed on the Bundesliga home game against Eintracht Frankfurt. Kick-off is at 20:30 CEST on Friday, 12 September.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Blaswich - Eichie, Badé (Gernhardt 48’), Pohl - Vázquez (Owen 48’), Fernández (Massek 31’), J. Mensah (Berghoff 58’), Arthur - Tella (Buck 31’), Tillman - Kofane (Izekor 48’)

Viktoria Köln: Dudu - Dietz (Boboy 13’), Eisenhuth, Handle, Engelhardt (Wolf 31’), Lobinger, Otto (Ott 31’), Greger (Carella 31’), Kloss (Agyekum 31’), Sponsel, Kozuki (Valesko 31’)

Goals: 1-0 Kofane (2’), 2-0 Tillman (36’), 2-1 Ott (53’)

Referee: Maurice Stubenrauch (Bonn)