"It's an absolutely disappointing result," was the remorseless assessment of Heiko Herrlich. "Bonn grew stronger after making it 2-1. It's almost as if we were begging for the equaliser. One or two players might have thought they could manage with 50 per cent effort. But that's not enough – even though you can't forget that we're in the pre-season," added the clearly unhappy Bayer 04 coach.
Herrlich again had to make do without the Confed Cup participants (Bernd Leno, Benjamin Henrichs, Julian Brandt, Chicharito, Charles Aranguiz). In addition, Ramalho, Lars Bender and Stefan Kießling were rested as were Jonathan Tah and U21 European Champion Dominik Kohr having just returned from holiday. New signing Sven Bender, greeted with loud applause from the 1,400 supporters in the Sportpark Nord, made his debut in a Werkself shirt.
The Werkself were first out of the blocks against the Regional League side driven on by the lively and impressive Kevin Kampl, Leon Bailey and Karim Bellarabi. And the deadlock was broken on nine minutes: Kampl broke through into the Bonn penalty area after a backheel from Bailey and made no mistake as he put the Werkself 1-0 up. Herrlich's men were creating chance after chance as the game went on. However, Julian Baumgartlinger, Kai Havertz, Kevin Volland and Bellarabi were unable to put the ball in the back of the 'Rhine Lions' net. Bonn were lucky to go into half-time just one goal down.
Herrlich made eight changes at half-time but opted to continue with Kampl, Baumgartlinger and goalkeeper Niklas Lomb. As in the first 45 minutes, the Werkself continued to dominate the game but failed to convert a number of clear-cut chances. The Black and Reds finally went 2-0 up on 65 minutes when Yurchenko converted a penalty.
The hosts surprisingly pulled a goal back six minutes later through Joran Sobiech. The team coached by former Leverkusen youth coach Daniel Zillken, who start their league campaign next week, grew ever stronger and looked dangerous on the break. The Werkself appeared to fade and attacking moves dwindled. The inevitable happened with four minutes to play: Bonn's Jannick Stoffels hit a 40-yard drive into the bottom left corner of the Bayer 04 goal – to level at 2-2.
The next friendly for the Werkself is on Sunday (14.30 CET) away to second division SV Sandhausen. The Bayer 04 pros then head off to the training camp in Zell am See on Monday.
Bayer 04: Lomb – Bednarczyk (Frey 46’), Dragovic (Akkaynak 46’), S. Bender (Abu Hanna 46’), Wendell (Handwerker 46’) – Baumgartlinger, Kampl – Bellarabi (Schreck 46’), Bailey (Mehmedi 46’) – Havertz (Yurchenko 46’), Volland (Pohjanpalo 46’).
From his arrival at the airport, the medical and contract signing, right through to photo shoots, his very own trading card and his first interview at the BayArena: Werkself TV followed new signing Afonso Moreira up close on his first day in Leverkusen. In the interview, the 21-year-old Portuguese left-winger, who has joined the Werkself from Lyon, talks about his excitement ahead of joining Bayer 04 and the Bundesliga, as well as his conversation with head coach Carles Martínez. Moreira also reveals the secret behind his iconic goal celebration – which he intends to perform “as often as possible” at the BayArena next season...
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A new signing for the U19s: Bayer 04 have signed winger Clinton Wilson from Schalke 04. The 18-year-old previously played for Leverkusen youth teams from January to June 2024.
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After eight years, Ida Daedelow is set to leave Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The 18-year-old, whose original contract was due to run to 2027, is joining second-division side VfL Bochum.
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As with the other youth teams (U16 to U19), Bayer 04 are also relying on familiar faces—some in new roles—and fresh impetus from the coaching staff for the 2026/27 season in the younger age groups. An overview of the U11 to U15 teams.
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