In comparison to the goalless draw against Panathinaikos four days ago, there were five new players in the starting eleven under head coach Gerardo Seoane. Jonathan Tah, Piero Hincapie, Robert Andrich, Charles Aránguiz and Adam Hlozek came in for Odilon Kossounou, Edmond Tapsoba, Exequiel Palacios, Kerem Demirbay and youngster Ayman Aourir. Summer signing Hlozek made his first start for the Black and Reds in the second friendly in Zell am See.
From the kick-off, it quickly developed into a fast encounter with tough challenges. In one of the many tackles, right-back Jeremie Frimpong was left on the deck and he had to receive treatment – after a short effort to carry on playing he was finally substituted on 22 minutes. Kossounou came on for the Dutchman.
Seconds later, the Werkself captain Lukas Hradecky speeded up proceedings with a long clearance upfield. The ball went straight to his opposite number Marco Silvestri but he caught it outside the penalty area. The ensuing free kick taken by Andrich from the left of the box hit the wall.
And the Werkself also had the next clear-cut chance: Patrik Schick back-heeled the ball to Moussa Diaby from the byline but he was foiled by the Udinese defender Bram Nuytinck on 32 minutes. Schick did another backheel seven minutes later this time with his own effort on goal. However, the Czech striker was unable to beat the Udinese keeper Silvestri. Substitute Kossounou tried a long-range effort just before half-time (43') but the two sides went off with the scoreline at 0-0.
Hincapie and Aránguiz finished their job at half-time with Tapsoba and Demirbay replacing them – and both were directly involved in the opener on 55 minutes: Demirbay hit a corner into the penalty area from the left where Tapsoba rose highest to head the ball into the back of the net.
Just after the hour mark, Seoane brought on seven new players including Nadiem Amiri and Paulinho. And it was the latter who doubled the lead on 76 minutes following a long ball over the Italian defence allowing him to lob the Udinese keeper Daniele Padelli.
The two-goal lead only lasted six minutes. From a long ball, Bayer 04 youngster Madi Monamay was involved in a foot race with Udinese's Festy Ebosele on the left side of defence. The 16-year-old brought down his opponent and the referee pointed to the spot – a mistake as the TV pictures later showed. The initial contact was outside the area. Nevertheless, Udinese's Roberto Pereyra converted from twelve yards out to make it 2-1 (82'). Not much else happened after that and the Werkself ended the final pre-season friendly with a win.
The final friendly in the pre-season has been played and now it's down to competitive action for the Werkself: On Saturday 30 July (kick-off: 15.30 CEST) the Seoane team are away to third division SV 07 Elversberg in the first round of the DFB Cup. A week later comes the opening fixture in the new Bundesliga season with the big match at Borussia Dortmund. The kick-off at the Signal Iduna Park is at 18.30 CEST.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Frimpong (Kossounou 22’), Tah (Monamay 63’), Hincapie (Tapsoba 46’), Bakker (Azhil 63’) – Andrich (Amiri 63’), Aránguiz (Demirbay 46’) – Diaby (Aourir 63’), Azmoun (Bravo 63’), Hlozek (Paulinho 63’) – Schick (Pohjanpalo 63’)
Udinese starting line-up: Silvestri – Soppy, Becao (Bijol 37'), Nuytinck, Masina, Udogie – Jajalo, Makengo – Pereyra – Success, Nestorovski
Goals: 1-0 Tapsoba (55’), 2-0 Paulinho (76’), 2-1 Pereyra (82’)
Booked: Andrich – Silvestri, Nestorovski, Soppy
Referee: Samuel Sampl
Attendance: 600 at the Alois Latini Stadium (Zell am See)
Video game developer Electronic Arts (EA), in collaboration with the Bundesliga, has announced the six nominees for the Bundesliga Player of the Month award for October 2026 – and Bayer 04’s Ibrahim Maza is among them. Fans of the Black and Reds can vote from now until Sunday 8 November (23:59 CET).
Show more
On Tuesday night, the Leverkusen e-sports team played the first three of their six group stage matches in the second round of the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship. They were unable to secure more than a draw in either of their matches against FC Augsburg and VfB Stuttgart. The match against Bayern Munich ended in defeat.
Show more
Once again, several Werkself players are set to represent their respective national teams during the final international break of the calendar year. Here is an overview of the Leverkusen players called up for international duty and the match dates. This will be updated regularly.
Show more
The Bundesliga has announced the nominees for the ‘Top Goal of the Month’ award for October. Fans of the Werkself can now vote for, amongst others, Robert Andrich’s stunning volley from the match against Mainz 05 or Moussa Diaby’s curling shot into the top corner from the same fixture. Voting, exclusively on the Bundesliga app, remains open until Sunday, 8 November (23:59 CET).
Show more
