"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’).
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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