“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.
Former Bundesliga and Germany keeper Manfred Manglitz, who was promoted to the Oberliga West with Bayer 04 in 1962, passed away on Monday at the age of 86.
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Justine Brandau and Lobke Loonen joined the Bayer 04 Women’s squad in quick succession this summer. The two Dutch players have been friends since their youth days, and are now playing for the same club for the first time. In an interview at the training camp in Rieden, Brandau and Loonen talk, amongst other things, about their experiences as opponents in the Vrouwen Eredivisie, the dynamic within their new team and their first few weeks in Leverkusen.
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The Werkself fixture list for the 2026/27 season in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga has been finalised. To kick off the season, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team travel to RB Leipzig between 21 and 24 August. The fixtures were announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday morning. The season will conclude with a home match on 23 May 2027 against newly promoted side Mainz 05.
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On Wednesday evening, Monheim City Council voted against a planning resolution for the Bayer 04 Campus on Alfred-Nobel-Straße in Monheim in a secret ballot, with 19 votes in favour, 25 against and one abstention. The legal status of the project therefore remains unchanged.
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