The 10,000 spectators at the Signal Iduna Park witnessed a true spectacle from the kick-off. There was end-to-end action, the challenges were intense, the tempo high. But the first goal of the afternoon fell under the category of fortuitous: The ball landed at the feet of Patrik Schick from a misplaced pass by Dan-Axel Zagadou. The BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was able to parry the shot from the Czech Republic international but the ball bounced off Akanji's knee into the back of the net (10’). An own goal by Jeremie Frimpong levelled the scores five minutes later but thanks to a double whammy from Florian Wirtz (20’), rounding off a brilliant counter-attack, and Robert Andrich , direct from a free kick (28'), Leverkusen went into half-time with a 3-1 lead. A few minutes after the restart, Jonathan Tah made it 4-1 (53') with an acrobatic effort, and Moussa Diaby scored to put the Werkself 5-1 up (87'). Borussia Dortmund's Tigges netted a consolation with almost the last kick of the game for the final score of 5-2 (89'). HERE is the match report.
"Everything went right today," said Lennart Grill in summing up the 90 minutes. The keeper was also full of praise for the players in front of him who were involved in the goal to make it 2-1. Grill continued: "I think it was the most brilliant breakaway goal I've ever seen!" Head coach Gerardo Seoane added at the post-match press conference: "Hats off to the whole team for the performance. We got off to a very good start, the first half was very good – on and off the ball. We won lots of challenges and were solid at the back."
The absence through injury of Andrey Lunev for the big match against BVB was certain for several days, Lukas Hradecky’s absence due to a Covid-19 infection was confirmed on Sunday morning. So Gerardo Seoane's choice for the position between the posts was Lennart Grill. The 23-year-old was on loan to the Norwegian club SK Brann Bergen for the first half of the season and he made his first appearance of the current campaign in Dortmund. “He played like a real number one, a really impressive performance," was the assessment in the BILD Zeitung. It was also the first Bundesliga appearance for Grill in front of a crowd – his four top-flight matches last season were played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus epidemic.
Sardar Azmoun proved to be a real lucky charm. The new signing took his seat in the North Stand and – like Germany coach Hansi Flick – watched the 5-2 thriller live. The centre forward was signed from the champions of Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg last week.
It was a long, long time ago: The last win for the Black and Reds away to the Black and Yellows was on 23 August 2014. Back then there was a 2-0 victory with goals from Karim Bellarabi and Stefan Kießling. If you look at the away form table this season then yesterday's three points in Dortmund were not that improbable: The Seoane team have collected the second highest number of points on the road (21 from 11 games) after league leaders Bayern Munich. Moreover, the Werkself now have a better goal difference than BVB in second place but they do have a five-point lead over Bayer 04.
As already mentioned, there was plenty of praise after the game for the Leverkusen performance. The headline in the Rheinische Post reads: "Leverkusen overwhelm Dortmund." The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung opts for the words "Bayer overrun BVB," the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger declares "Werkself outstanding in Dortmund." The Kicker names Jonathan Tah, key defender and goalscorer, as the Man of the Match and the Kölnische Rundschau includes 04 Leverkusen players in their Team of the Matchday (Tah, Wirtz, Andrich, Diaby).
The haul in 2022 to date is impressive: The Werkself have picked up 10 out of a possible 12 points since the start of the year. And hopefully there will be another three points next weekend. When VfB Stuttgart visit the BayArena on Saturday 12 February (kick-off: 18.30 CET) – there will be 10,000 fans at the stadium. Jonathan Tah emphasised in regard to the game against the side next-to-last in the Bundesliga: "There are as many points to gain against Stuttgart as there were at Dortmund. If we are again as focused then we will have a good game."
After being nominated for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025, Martin Terrier's wonderful strike for the opener against FC Köln is now also up for selection for the ARD Sportschau Goal of the Month award for December 2025. Bayer 04 fans have until 19:00 CET on 10 January to vote for the French forward.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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"In every ending lies a new beginning" is a well-known saying. This phrase has probably never been more apt at Bayer 04. After winning the Bundesliga in 2023/24 and finishing as runners-up in 2024/25, the summer was the most eventful ever in terms of transfers. Over ten players and the coach, including the coaching staff, left the club. A lot of the heroes of the double-winning side began a new chapter. It was the end of an era. And at the same time the beginning of a new, very exciting and promising chapter for Leverkusen. The Werkself welcomed more than a dozen new arrivals, including experienced title-winners and young talents, to build a new "foundation for a successful team capable of winning titles" under the Bayer Cross, as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. A new spirit, a new hunger, a new story was to be created. Bayer04.de looks back at the first few months of this story and the final act of the preseason.
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43 points at the end of the last Bundesliga season were not only more than ever before for the Bayer 04 Women, but also led to a record fourth-place finish. That was followed by a Hinrunde with many more victories, but also some setbacks. In an interview with bayer04.de, sporting director Achim Feifel takes stock at the end of the year.
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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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