Time for a premiere at the Oberwerth Stadium: The Werkself played in the new, red JAKO away kit. Head coach Roger Schmidt opted to start with Chicharito and Kevin Volland up front with goalkeeper Ramazan Özcan making his debut appearance for Bayer 04. Stalwart Stefan Kießling was rested after the intensive week of training and was not included in the squad for the Koblenz game. Tin Jedvaj and Admir Mehmedi, who started the pre-season today with the usual medical checks, were also not in the squad.
The first real chance of the game on three minutes: Kevin Volland put Chicharito through but the Mexican was unable to beat the Koblenz keeper Sebastian Patzler. Just after that, the new signing from Hoffenheim fired a volley goalwards but Patzler pulled off a brilliant save. A brilliant move from Karim Bellarabi including a one-two with Volland led to Leverkusen taking the lead: Bellarabi sent in a cross from the right and an attempted clearance by Ricardo Antonaci ended with the ball in the back of his own net to make it 1-0 on 15 minutes.
Bellarabi and Volland form impressive duo
As expected, the Werkself set the pace against the Regional League side and they moved the ball around with ease. Whenever Bayer 04 upped the tempo going forward Koblenz struggled to cope. And a rapid attack down the right flank ended with Kevin Volland doubling the lead on 25 minutes with his fourth goal in the pre-season to date. Bellarabi then set up Chicharito but his effort went just wide of the Koblenz goal on 32 minutes. Volland again demonstrated his attacking prowess when a fast-paced attack from a lively Werkself side ended with the striker netting again to put Bayer 04 3-0 up on 35 minutes. Bellarabi provided the assists for both of Volland’s strikes.
Roger Schmidt rang the changes after the break bringing on Baumgartlinger, Brandt, da Costa, Calhanoglu, Pohjanpalo and Lomb. The goalkeeper was awake on the hour mark when he saved the only Koblenz shot with his feet. The youngsters Akkaynak, Havertz and Schreck came on at that point shortly before Cacutalua and Abu Hanna. Bayer 04 took the foot of the gas in the second half but still sought to maintain control of the game and chances still came along – as with a shot against the woodwork from the Koblenz captain Andre Marx as he almost turned a Brandt cross into his own net for a second own goal (78’). Brandt rounded off the scoring with an excellent shot from the edge of the box: 4-0 for the Werkself with three minutes to play.
Porto on Wednesday in Bergisch Gladbach
The Werkself can expect a stiffer work-out in the next friendly: The top Portuguese side FC Porto provide the opposition on Wednesday night at the Belkaw Arena in Bergisch Gladbach at 18.00 CET.
Bayer 04: Özcan (Lomb 46’) – Kruse (da Costa 46’), Ramalho (Akkaynak 63’ ), Toprak (Cacutalua 76’), Hilbert (Abu Hanna 76’) – Bender (Baumgartlinger 46’), Kampl (Havertz 63’) – Bellarabi (Brandt 46’), Öztunali (Schreck 63’) – Volland (Calhanoglu 46’), Chicharito (Pohjanpalo 46’)
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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