Everything looked so good in the first 25 minutes: Patrik Schick opened the scoring on five minutes for the Werkself with nine changes compared with the 1-0 defeat in Budapest. The hosts struggled at first with the high tempo of the third-placed team from Leverkusen and the lead doubled to 2-0: Schick converted a penalty following a handball by the Eintracht Frankfurt player Djibril Sow (22').
However, Eintracht woke up from the kick-off after the second goal of the game and were like a different side from that point. Tuta (23') and Jesper Lindström (30') levelled before half-time. Evan Ndicka (50') and Kristijan Jakic (66') turned the game on its head to give the Eagles a 4-2 lead with Sow netting the final goal for the 5-2 scoreline on 76 minutes. The 11,500 home fans at the Deutsche Bank Park celebrated moving up to ninth place while the Werkself remained third at the end of matchday 15.
Werkself players clearly expressed their opinions after the final whistle. Skipper Lukas Hradecky declared: "Everybody has to ask himself today whether he really wanted to win every ball. I feel we weren't fully with it today. We lacked aggression, our performance wasn't good." Midfield dynamo Robert Andrich assessed the performance of his team after conceding the first goal as "a catastrophe. It felt like we didn't win any more challenges. It wasn't a good performance by the whole team today."
Head coach Gerardo Seoane identified a good start – "with and without the ball." However, the game turned round after that. The 43-year-old Swiss coach added: "We missed our ability to win challenges and be confident on the ball. The team lost their heads a bit and Frankfurt were on fire."
The league's best starters again struck early at the Deutsche Bank Park. No team in the history of the Bundesliga have scored more goals than Bayer 04 (11) this term in the first 15 minutes over the first 15 matchdays of a season.
Patrik Schick also clocked up goals number 13 and 14. The Czech Republic centre forward remains the second highest goalscorer in the Bundesliga and is only two behind Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich). Moreover: The second goal from Schick represents two milestones. On the one hand, it was the 5,000th penalty in the Bundesliga. The Leverkusen player was also the 1,000th scorer from the spot in the top-flight as he had never taken a penalty before.
One negative for the Werkself's game against TSG Hoffenheim on Wednesday. Right-back Jeremie Frimpong picked up a fifth yellow card in the current Bundesliga campaign.
This age-old wisdom can certainly be applied to yesterday's game for the Werkself. The Seoane team had 56% possession plus 54% of challenges won. In turn, Eintracht Frankfurt were clearly more dangerous in front of goal – logical with a 5-2 win. Eintracht had 17 shots on goal compared with 11 for the Black and Reds. And another reason for success from a Frankfurt perspective: The Oliver Glasner lads ran a good seven kilometres more than their visitors.
"The first away defeat of the season was a punch in the stomach!" – was the introduction in the report from the Bild Zeitung. But there was also comment on the convincing start by the Werkself: "At the same time, Leverkusen looked really good early on."
The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger rated the performances of the Bayer 04 players as usual. Double goalscorer Patrik Schick was awarded a 2.5, captain and former Frankfurt player in goal for the Seoane team a 3.5. Those were the best Black and Red marks on the day. Schick was given a mark of 2 in the Rheinische Post.
For the Werkself, it is important to quickly focus on the way ahead as the next in-form team provide the opposition in two days: The Black and Reds are at home on Wednesday, 15 December, against fourth-placed TSG Hoffenheim. The kick-off at the BayArena is at 20.30 CET. The final match in this calendar year follows next weekend: Bayer 04 are away to fifth-placed SC Freiburg on Sunday, 19 December (kick-off: 15.30 CET).
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended Abdoulaye Faye’s contract by a further year to 30 June 2031. During the 2026/27 season, the talented defender will play for Celta Vigo on loan without an option to buy. The 21-year-old Senegalese is set to feature in La Liga and the UEFA Europa League with last season’s sixth-placed side in Spain.
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The Werkself's training camp in Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog you'll find all the insights and updates from the day. The programme on day one (Sunday 2 August) includes a media round with managing director sport Simon Rolfes, free time for the team after the friendly against Rot-Weiss Essen and before an intensive week of training begins, as well as a coffee get-together where CEO Fernando Carro and Rolfes met around 100 fans in the afternoon.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed Kerim Alajbegovic’s transfer to Italian record champions Juventus. The club brought the 18-year-old attacking player back to Leverkusen this summer via a buy-back option, following a season at Red Bull Salzburg. Until his move to Austria, the Bosnia international had been playing for Bayer 04’s Under-19s.
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A warm welcome to the Weimarer Land, Bayer 04! The Werkself moved into their accommodation for this year’s training camp on Saturday evening. In Blankenhain, Thuringia, head coach Carles Martínez’s team have a programme of gruelling training sessions – several of which will be open to fans – and team-building activities lined up for the next six days. We’ll be following the Werkself up close and providing you with exclusive insights, quotes, photos and videos from the training camp.
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With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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