Before the game, Heiko Herrlich announced he was picking two different sides for the friendlies against Fürth and Münster to give all his players the chance to get time on the pitch. With the exception of second choice keeper Niklas Lomb, the team against the second division club included five U19 players on the bench in Jakub Bednarczyk, Hajdar Shala, Sam Schreck, Güven Yalcin and Atakan Akkaynak. Most of the action on the pitch took place in the Fürth half with Bayer 04 clearly on top – and the opener soon followed. With six minutes on the clock, a shot from Kevin Volland was blocked but Dominik Kohr was on hand to put the ball in the back of the net. After that, the goalscorer and Kai Havertz missed a number of decent chances to extend the lead but the Werkself were not sharp enough in converting those goalscoring opportunities. That failed to impress the coach. In the middle of the first half, Heiko Herrlich's voice was clearly to be heard throughout the Haberland Stadium as he shouted, "Blimey, put the ball in the net!"
Otherwise, the hosts looked impressive in the first outing of the New Year as they were alert in moving back and winning the ball, they passed accurately and patiently through their ranks and were able to up the tempo as required. After the restart, Kevin Volland and Admir Mehmedi missed good chances before Julian Brandt finally doubled the lead from close range on 66 minutes. Volland provided the assist. Mehmedi missed a final great chance to extend the winning margin from a few yards out just before the final whistle. Almost immediately, the visitors from Fürth netted a leveller through Cigerci in the final minute to make the score 2-1 with Bernd Leno unable to save a well-placed shot into the far corner. With the exception of one change - Jakub Bednarczyk replaced skipper Lars Bender with 15 minutes to play - Heiko Herrlich allowed all his players to go the full distance.
Bayer 04: Leno – Tah, S. Bender, Retsos – L. Bender (Bednarczyk 76’), Kohr, Baumgartlinger, Mehmedi – Havertz, Volland, Brandt
Bayer 04 ended the year with a 3-1 win away at RB Leipzig and will go into 2026 in third place in the Bundesliga table, leapfrogging their opponents, who had previously not dropped a point at the Red Bull Arena this season. Martin Terrier and Patrik Schick scored to turn around a first-half deficit before Montrell Culbreath rounded things off with a goal on his senior debut deep into added time. Ezequiel Fernández, Axel Tape and Lucas Vázquez also all returned from injury.
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Bayer 04 are away at RB Leipzig for their final fixture of 2025 in the Bundesliga on Saturday (kick-off: 18:30 CET). Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 15 encounter at the Red Bull Arena.
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Despite a major personnel shake-up in the summer, RB Leipzig have performed impressively this term. Ahead of matchday 15, coach Ole Werner's team are second in the Bundesliga with a three-point lead over their upcoming opponents Bayer 04. This Saturday, 20 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET), the Werkself are away to RBL who are strong at home. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Bayer 04's final game of the year at RB Leipzig on Saturday night, 20 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET), will also see Robert Andrich and David Raum go head-to-head. In an interview with bayer04.de and rbleipzig.com, the two team captains spoke about the importance of this match, their friendship and a WhatsApp group with Joshua Kimmich.
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