Hjulmand made five changes to the team that won at Olympiacos in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League play-off first leg. Loïc Badé replaced Jarell Quansah in the back three, while Arthur came in for Lucas Vázquez on the right. Ezequiel Fernández swapped in for compatriot Exequiel Palacios in midfield. Malik Tillman and Christian Kofane played up front in place of Ernest Poku and Patrik Schick.
Union had the first chance of the game inside two minutes when Derrick Köhn’s cross only just evaded Andrej Ilic in the box. The Berliners also had the better of the opening stages before Leverkusen found their way into the game but without creating anything of note. The best opportunity came for Tillman, who was unable to convert Arthur’s cross following a Badé long ball up the right. Just a minute later, the Irons forged ahead when Aljosha Kemlein’s ball up the pitch found Khedira, who got the better of Robert Andrich and was able to chip the ball over Janis Blaswich into the net.
Tillman had the first action of the second period when he drove into the box and went down, but not fouled according to the referee. With an hour gone, Hjulmand introduced Schick, Poku and Vázquez to try and make things happen. The changes seemed to have an effect as Leverkusen pressed for an equaliser and Union dropped deeper and deeper. The biggest chance came in the 92nd minute when Schick’s header went over the bar as the Werkself’s seven-game unbeaten run came to an end.
Bayer 04 are next in action again on Tuesday as they host Olympiacos for the second leg of their Champions League play-off tie (21:00 CET). Mainz are then the visitors to the BayArena the following Saturday in the Bundesliga (15:30).
Match stats:
Union Berlin: Rönnow - Doekhi, Querfeld, Nsoki - Haberer (Trimmel 11'), Khedira, Kemlein, Köhn - Jeong (Král 70'), Schäfer (Ansah 85') - Ilic (Skarke 85')
Bayer 04: Blaswich - Badé (Hofmann 68'), Andrich, Tapsoba - Arthur (Vázquez 61'), Fernández (Poku 61'), Garcia, Grimaldo - Tillman (Terrier 81'), Maza - Kofane (Schick 61')
Goals: 1-0 Khedira (28')
Yellow cards: Nsoki, Haberer, Ilic, Querfeld, Rønnow - Vázquez, Andrich
Referee: Harm Osmers
FC Augsburg are top of the table for the first time in their Bundesliga history. After two wins for starters, FCA lead the German top-flight with six points and a goal difference of 7 to 1. This Saturday, 12 September (kick-off: 15:30 CEST), Augsburg are looking to build on their strong start to the season against the Werkself. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
The German Football Association (DFB) confirmed the kick-off times for the second round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal on Thursday. Bayer 04 will meet 1. FC Nürnberg on Wednesday 28 October at 20:45 CET.
Show more
This Wednesday afternoon, the German Football Association (DFB) announced the exact kick-off times for Matchday 6 in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. According to the fixture list, the Bayer 04 Women’s home match against Werder Bremen will be played on Friday, 2 October, at 18:30 CEST.
Show more
Just in time for the start of the school year, everyone was hard at work again at NaturGut Ophoven. For the 21st time, Bayer 04 have supported the annual ‘BioBrotbox’ campaign, which puts together a healthy breakfast for first-year primary school pupils in Leverkusen – and not only contributed 1,904 muesli bars but also plenty of enthusiasm too: Together with the U19 players Burak Kir and Clinton Wilson, Emily Wallrabenstein and Paulina Platner from the Women’s Bundesliga team helped with the packing. The latter was clearly delighted “that Bayer 04 are helping out with regional projects like this and showing their commitment to the local community”.
Show more
