With the international players Charles Aránguiz, Leon Bailey, Julian Baumgartlinger, Aleksandar Dragovic, Kai Havertz, Lukas Hradecky, Tin Jedvaj, Jonathan Tah and Paulinho still away on holiday, Peter Bosz brought in seven U19 players Ayman Azhil, Jan Boller, Kevin Bukusu, Yannik Schlößer, Adrian Stanilewicz, Cem Türkmen and Marco Wolf for the trip to Wuppertal. The Werkself head coach fielded two different teams with each due to play 45 minutes against the team that finished sixth in the Regional League last season – every player was to have the same time on the pitch.
With new signings Kerem Demirbay and Daley Sinkgraven in the starting eleven, the Werkself looked lively from the start against WSV. Schlößer and Azhil missed chances to give the Werkself an early lead and Demirbay, fully committed to the cause, only found the inside of the post with a shot from a tight angle. It took 26 minutes until the deadlock was broken when Karim Bellarabi ended an individual run with a right-foot shot into the far corner to give the Bosz boys the first chance to celebrate in front of a crowd of 2,400. Ten minutes later, Demirbay beat three Wuppertal players before providing a pinpoint cross into the box for Kevin Volland to easily convert a chance from eight yards out. Demirbay provided a second assist just before the break – the captain Lars Bender tucked the ball into the net from a corner taken by the new Werkself number 10. Bayer 04 took a 3-0 lead into the half-time break.
With a completely different line-up – including new signing Moussa Diaby buzzing around in central midfield – the Werkself remained on top in the second half with only occasional attempted attacks by the fourth division side. In spite of a lot of good chances, the ball was only in the back of the Wuppertal net once more: The WSV keeper Niklas Lübcke parried a shot from Mitchell Weiser only for Joel Pohjanpalo to round off the scoring at 4-0 with a tap-in (74'). "I think we can be very happy with our performance – also because it was very hot today. I'm glad I scored a goal but the most important thing is that everybody remained fit after the game," said Karim Bellarabi who made his first appearance after his recent injury lay-off.
Bayer 04 (First half): Özcan, L. Bender, S. Bender, Bukusu, Sinkgraven – Onur, Demirbay – Bellarabi, Azhil, Schlößer – Volland
Bayer 04 (Second half): Lomb – Weiser, Boller, Retsos, Wendell – Türkmen, Stanilewicz – Wolf, Diaby (Azhil 83’), Pohjanpalo – Alario
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
Show more
The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
Show more
In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
Show more
It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
Show more
