Head coach Peter Bosz made one change to the side that drew 0-0 at VfL Wolfsburg: Summer signing Patrik Schick (AS Roma) started up front in place of Lucas Alario thus making his starting eleven debut for the Black and Reds. Leon Bailey, who returned to Leverkusen at the start of the week after self-isolation in Jamaica, took the place of Joel Pohjanpalo in the squad.
The 700th Bundesliga home game for the Werkself started a good two hours before kick-off with an extremely pleasing and visible and palpable change in and around the stadium: Fans were allowed back into the BayArena for a league match for the first time since the beginning of March. Ahead of kick-off, they witnessed the official send-off for Xaver Zembrod. The 54-year-old was assistant coach at Bayer 04 up to the summer and has recently joined Leipzig.
In front of 6,000 frenetic and singing fans, who always maintained social distance, it was Schick of all people almost gave the Werkself the lead. However, from a Moussa Diaby cross, the RB defender Dayot Upamecano just managed to clear the ball out of play to deny the former Leipzig player (4'). At the other end, the former Leverkusen player Kevin Kampl also just missed the target three minutes later from eleven yards out.
Leipzig's Emil Forsberg broke the deadlock after just under a quarter of an hour: Yussuf Poulsen picked out the Swede who fired the ball under the bar to make it 1-0. However, the hosts refused to be bowed on their home stage and quickly responded with an equaliser: Kerem Demirbay tried his luck from 20 yards out – and he put the ball into the back of the Leipzig net with the help of the underside of the bar (20').
The Werkself increasingly took control of the game after the equaliser with Lars Bender having the next goalscoring opportunity: The right back tried from a similar position to the goalscorer Demirbay but his effort went high over the target (35'). Four minutes later, a header from new signing Schick was kept out by an impressive save from Peter Gulasci.
While the visitors’ coach Julian Nagelsmann made a second change at the restart – Hee-chan Hwang replaced Kampl – Bosz kept faith with his starting line-up. Shortly after that, Sven Bender went off to be replaced by Jonathan Tah (58'). The Werkself almost took the lead a minute later: Karim Bellarabi set up Florian Wirtz but he hit the left-hand post.
After a brief period without chances, there was danger again on 74 minutes: Substitute Christopher Nkunku hit a free kick towards the top left corner of the net but Lukas Hradecky pulled off a great save. Hwang hit the rebound just wide of the target to the left. The Werkself fans celebrated for a second time three minutes after Leipzig had nearly scored: Schick impressively curled a shot in at the far post – but he was offside when he received the ball. That was the end of the action with the two top teams deservedly sharing the points in the 1-1 draw.
Next Saturday, 3 October (kick-off: 15.30 CEST) the Werkself are away to newly promoted VfB Stuttgart on matchday three. That is followed by the second international break of the season.
Bayer 04: Hradecky – L. Bender (Dragovic 90'), S. Bender (Tah 58'), Tapsoba, Sinkgraven – Aránguiz, Demirbay (Amiri 78’) – Bellarabi (Bailey 78'), Wirtz, Diaby – Schick
Leipzig: Gulacsi – Mukiele, Upamecano, Klostermann – Haidara, Kampl (Hwang 46'), Adams, Angelino – Olmo (Henrichs 86'), Poulsen (Sörloth 27'), Forsberg (Nkunku 66')
Goals: 0-1 Forsberg (14’), 1-1 Demirbay (20’)
Booked: Demirbay – Klostermann, Haidara, Adams
Referee: Harm Osmers (Hannover)
Attendance: 6,042 (Special match operation: sold out)
The team departs for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Monday for the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour 2025 from July 14-24. The preseason journey marks a change from recent training camps in the Austrian Alps and Black Forest and we caught up with CEO Fernando Carro to ask him about this summer's visit to Brazil.
Show moreMalik Tillman and the USA could not quite achieve the hoped-for big win in their own country. Last Monday’s final in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in Houston ended up in a 2-1 defeat for the hosts against Mexico. But the Bayer 04 new signing can be very happy with the course of the tournament and his own performances. Tillman was in the starting line-up for all six games. That concluded an impressive season for him after winning the Eredivisie title in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven. Bayer04.de profiles the 23-year-old new signing.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen have signed the USA international Malik Tillman. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder joins the Werkself from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven. Tillman, with German roots and born in Nuremberg, has a contract at Leverkusen to 30 June 2030. He scored 16 goals and provided five assists in 34 games for PSV last season. Three of those goals and two assists were in six matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Show moreThe second friendly and the first goal for the Bayer 04 Women: The Werkself just missed out on their first win in the preseason away to top-flight Dutch side PEC Zwolle. The team led by coach Roberto Pätzold drew 1-1 on Friday afternoon in Wezep. As with the friendly against TSG Hoffenheim (0-2) a number of first-team players were absent. The coach once again shared out time on the pitch for the 20-player squad. The goal of the match was scored by summer signing Vanessa Fudalla (67').
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