“Even if it might have been one – I can’t fully understand the red card in a friendly. That ruined the game after 20 minutes. A yellow and a free kick would have been fair. Marcelinho Garcia (the Valencia coach, ed.) saw it the same way,” declared Peter Bosz baffled by the decision of the referee Sven Weschitzki to show Aleksandar Dragovic a red card for a professional foul. “I feel particularly sorry for the spectators that the game was no longer evenly balanced and therefore less exciting,” said the Werkself head coach who had to manage without Lars Bender (muscular problem), Mitchell Weiser (bruised foot), Joel Pohjanpalo (set back after ankle injury) plus Sven Bender and Karim Bellarabi (rested).
Kevin Gameiro opened the scoring for the team that finished fourth in La Liga last term with a penalty on nine minutes after he was brought down in the box by Kerem Demirbay – a debatable decision but the referee turned away the protests from the Werkself. As expected, Valencia provided tough opposition in the last pre-season friendly ahead of next Saturday’s DFB Cup tie in Aachen (15.30 CET, live text commentary and web radio on bayer04.de) and they put the Werkself under pressure with long balls.
After the dismissal of Dragovic (20’), the Bosz team quickly fought their way back into the game and competed on equal terms with the Spanish cup winners and Champions League starters. The reward came on 26 minutes: The Werkself were awarded a penalty for a handball and Kevin Volland tucked the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to make it 1-1.
The pace of the game slowed in the second half in the hot summer weather and neither side looked effective up front. Apart from the goal to make it 2-1 on 57 minutes scored by Valencia’s Gameiro with a long-range effort that beat Lukas Hradecky who did show what he could do on a number of occasions. Peter Bosz made five changes on the hour mark – including the introduction of Nadiem Amiri for his first game for Bayer 04. The fourth summer signing for the Werkself played well but was unable to change the outcome of the game played as part of the Bayer 04 season launch at the BayArena.
Bosz did not make too much of the defeat: “It’s true our friendly results were not satisfactory but I can see a positive development for us. I recognise our improvement and the confidence is there. We now have a week before the Aachen game – we have to make the most of it and continue to work hard,” said Bosz.
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Jedvaj (Retsos 20’; Stanilewicz 86’), Dragovic, Tah, Wendell – Baumgartlinger (Sinkgraven 61’), Demirbay (Aránguiz 61’) – Bailey (Amiri 61’), Havertz, Paulinho (Diaby 61’) – Volland (Alario 61’)
After eight years in the youth set-up at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Benjamin Adam is leaving the club. The 35-year-old, who most recently coached the Leverkusen U17s, will take charge of the Hansa Rostock U19 team next season.
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There was a successful end to the women's internationals with Werkself players Carlotta Wamser and Cornelia Kramer qualifying for the 2027 World Cup finals in Brazil. A third Leverkusen player is still in with a chance of joining them. The Germany U23 players also experienced success in their last two international friendlies of the season.
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Traveling to North America for the World Cup this summer to see your favorite Bayer 04 players? Here’s a quick cheat sheet with thumbnail portraits and insider tips for each city from a local expert, so you can make the most of your visit and activities beyond the game!
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A fresh look for the BayArena: The Bayer 04 stadium will have new seating in the form of folding seats for the 2026/27 campaign that will ensure significantly improved seating comfort and simplified movement within the rows of seats. As part of routine replacement after 17 years, fans of the Werkself were able to purchase the existing seats, used to witness the first German league title in the club's history. In addition, a large proportion of the seats will be donated to charitable projects, primarily in the local region. Bayer 04 fans can look forward to new, functional folding seats for the season opener at the beginning of August - still in the club colours of black and red, of course. A glimpse at the BayArena during the refurbishment.
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