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’)
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 personal 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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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.
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Bayer 04’s eight opponents in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League have been confirmed. At the draw on Friday 28 August held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the Werkself were drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots. There are a total of four home and four away matches. Read on for details of opponents and fixture dates.
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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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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-3 loss at SV 07 Elversberg on Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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