Head coach Xabi Alonso made one change to his line-up compared with the 8-0 win against FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen in the first round of the DFB Pokal: Jonathan Tah came into the starting eleven in place of the suspended Amine Adli and the personnel change brought about a reorganisation in defence from a back four to a back three. The focus in the opening minutes from a Werkself perspective was on their attacking game. Florian Wirtz and Co. moved the ball well with vocal support from a sell-out home crowd as they again and again advanced into the final third and when the opposition had the ball they were quick to challenge the visitors from Leipzig.
The first shot on goal from the Werkself came on eight minutes but Jonas Hofmann missed the target by three metres on his Bundesliga debut for Bayer 04. At the other end, skipper Lukas Hradecky held on to a long-range effort from Benjamin Henrichs (10'). Almost ten minutes later there was another effort from distance by Henrichs and this time Hradecky was called on to make a more impressive save for the first time. Jeremie Frimpong then succeeded where the former Bayer 04 player Henrichs was unable to: A move involving Leverkusen Bundesliga newcomers Granit Xhaka and Victor Boniface ended with the ball in the six-yard box with Frimpong clinically despatching it for the openening goal (24').
With the one goal advantage, the Werkself increasingly forced their dominant style of play on the Saxons – and that was rewarded with Tah heading home from a Hofmann corner to make it 2-0 on 35 minutes. Leipzig's Dani Olmo pulled a goal back five minutes later to make it 2-1 also with a header from a corner. That was the scoreline at half-time. Wirtz had the first big chance of the second half but failed to score the third for the Werkself (48'). But this did come on 64 minutes: Frimpong hit the ball low from the right to the edge of the penalty area where the Germany international struck an impressive shot past RB keeper Janis Blaswich to make it 3-1.
Leipzig again succeeded in reducing the deficit, this time through Lois Openda. The RB new signing headed home from close range to make it 3-2 and the game opened up after that (71'). Openda missed another big chance three minutes later when he hit the post. The match remained exciting right to the end but the Werkself managed to retain the lead and secure three important points at the start of the new Bundesliga campaign.
Bayer 04 are next in action on Saturday 26 August in a clash at Borussia Mönchengladbach kicking off at 18.30 CEST. Alonso’s predecessor Gerardo Seoane took charge of the Foals at the start of the season.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba - Frimpong (Arthur 78'), Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo - Hofmann (Amiri 89’), Wirtz (Andrich 75’) - Boniface (Hlozek 89’)
Leipzig: Blaswich - Henrichs, Simakan, Orban, Raum - Seiwald (Lukeba 62’), Schlager (Carvalho 84’) - Simons (Kampl 62’), Olmo - Openda (Forsberg 75’), Werner (Poulsen 62’)
Goals: 1-0 Frimpong (24’), 2-0 Tah (35’), 2-1 Olmo (40’), 3-1 Wirtz (64’), 3-2 Openda (71’)
Booked: Boniface – Seiwald, Lukeba
Referee: Dr. Felix Brych (Munich)
Attendance: 29,464 at the BayArena
Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
Show more
It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
Show more
It was a match that will live long in the memory of everyone involved: The Bayer 04 U19s celebrated their seventh win in seven matches in the DFB Youth League preliminary round – and yet it was a very special victory indeed: in the 4–3 (1–1) win at VfL Bochum 1848, no fewer than five goals came in the final quarter of an hour. As the 90th minute approached, coach Patrick Greveraars’s side found themselves behind, but then fought back in true ‘Laterkusen’ style.
Show more
Under Carles Martínez, the Werkself have so far proved unbeatable at the BayArena. The Spaniard has led his team to victory in all three of their most recent home matches – and, it's worth noting, without conceding a single goal. On Sunday, 18 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST / live on DAZN and Werkself Radio), current league leaders SC Freiburg will make the trip to Leverkusen, but will be without their top scorer. What's more, the Werkself have won all three of their previous home matches against the Black Forest club. With a goal, Patrik Schick could not only secure a fourth consecutive victory but also set a memorable record. Meanwhile, on what will be the ‘Health Day' at the BayArena, much of the focus will be on physical wellbeing. Today's matchday news.
Show more
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 7 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
Show more
