“You could see in the players that we’ve been working hard in training this week. If you take the overall conditions and the heat into account then my players’ commitment has been fine,” said Herrlich in a positive summary of the game. The new Bayer 04 coach made no bones about not being pleased with everything his players did on the pitch. “There is lots to improve on,” he said. That included Herrlich complaining about his team committing unnecessary fouls. “We want to get away from that,” he added. Herrlich also saw the conversion rate of the chances created, particularly in the first half, as an area for improvement.
Kießling nets the first goal of the new season
Five days after the start of the pre-season, the Werkself were clearly on top in the first 45 and they produced a lot of very good moves. Overall, they found it hard to finish against a battling Oberliga team from Mülheim with many opportunities being wasted. Only Stefan Kießling was able to find the back of the opposition net with a header after a delightful cross from Kevin Kampl to enable the Werkself to go into the break with a 1-0 lead.
Eleven changes at half-time
Herrlich fielded eleven new players for the second half. Again, the flow of the game was in one direction and the fresh pairs of legs of the Werkself were able to make chances - at times one minute after the next. It did take until the 66th minute before the impressive visiting keeper Robin Offhaus had to pick the ball out of the net for a second beer: From a corner taken by Vladlen Yurchenko, Joel Pohjanpalo doubled the lead with a well-placed flying header.
That finally opened the floodgates. Yurchenko made it 3-0 from the penalty spot three minutes later. Bayer 04 were unlucky shortly after that when Kevin Volland hit another penalty against the post. In the closing stages Kai Havertz, Admir Mehmedi and Volland, with an admirable long-range effort, made it the 6-0 to finish with.
The next friendly for Bayer 04 is on Friday (17.30 CET). The Werkself play third division Würzburger Kickers at the JAKO Arena in Hollenbach. The game will again be streamed live on the Bayer 04 Facebook page.
Bayer 04 in the first half: Öczan – Frey, Bender, Abu Hanna, Wendell – Boller, Baumgartlinger – Bellarabi, Kampl, Schreck – Kießling.
Bayer 04 in the second half: Lomb – Bednarczyk, Ramalho, Dragovic, Handwerker – Yurchenko, Akkaynak – Havertz, Mehmedi – Volland, Pohjanpalo.
Today, Tuesday 16 December (live on B04eSports Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports players face the final three matches of the online preliminary round of Showdown Three in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In addition to 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 and SV 07 Elversberg, they will play Fortuna Düsseldorf, who are still unbeaten in this third showdown. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Whether it's the Lions Club, Teens, Bayer 04 Club or Silver Lions - there was a lot going on again this year in all age-specific members' clubs. We look back on an eventful year with numerous events and many exclusive moments with the Werkself. We take a look at what the year 2025 had to offer for the members of the Bayer 04 Club...
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Coaches, team-mates, fans, commentators, the media - they were all amazed when Martin Terrier unleashed his scorpion kick against 1. FC Köln at the BayArena and skilfully put the Werkself ahead after 66 minutes on Bundesliga matchday 14. The Frenchman chose the perfect moment to score what he described as the "best goal of my career". After all, it was his goal that paved the way for the derby victory. The Werkself review.
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