
Xabi Alonso made five changes to the team that started last week’s 1-1 draw at St. Pauli, including Matej Kovar in goal. Augsburg had lost only one of their last 14 Bundesliga games but were unable to get to grips with Leverkusen’s fluid movement and passing.
The reigning champions got their reward after just 14 minutes when Granit Xhaka, Florian Wirtz and Nathan Tella combined before setting up Schick, who fired the ball – via a slight deflection – under the crossbar for his 19th goal of the campaign. The ball was in the Augsburg net again 10 minutes later when Tella headed in a Wirtz cross, but it was ruled out for offside. The Werkself kept playing their game but lacked the final ball in their search for a second. That finally came in the first minute of added time when Buendia came inside from the left and picked out the far bottom corner with a curling effort.







The hosts kept up the pressure after the restart and had the first effort of the second half through Wirtz. Augsburg’s best chance fell to Samuel Essende, who failed to hit the target from a tight angle. Further opportunities came and went for Alexis Claude-Maurice and Phillip Tietz without really testing Kovar. At the other end, substitute Jonas Hofmann had a crack and Amine Adli had a headed effort off the bench as well as the game ended with three deserved points for Leverkusen.







Bayer 04’s next game takes them to Freiburg a week on Sunday at 5.30pm CEST. The final home fixture of the season is then against Borussia Dortmund the following Sunday at 3.30pm. The curtain comes down on the campaign in Mainz the Saturday after that.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Kovar - Arthur (Frimpong 86'), Tah, Tapsoba - Tella (Hincapie 63'), Andrich, Xhaka, Grimaldo - Wirtz (Garcia 82'), Buendía (Hofmann 63') - Schick (Adli 63')
Augsburg: Dahmen - Matsima, Gouweleeuw, Zesiger - Wolf (Koudossou 55'), Jakic, Onyeka, Giannoulis (Gumny 55') - Rexhbecaj (Kömür 55'), Claude-Maurice (Jensen 81') - Essende (Tietz 71')
Goals: 1-0 Schick (14'), 2-0 Buendia (45'+1)
Yellow cards: Zesiger
Referee: Christian Dingert
Attendance: 29,563 at the BayArena

It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
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