A breathtaking reception for the team bus, masses of fans on Bismarckstraße and a deafening stage at the BayArena: Everything was set up for a game yet to win. Head coach Xabi Alonso made seven changes to his starting XI for the game against Werder Bremen: only Jonathan Tah, Edmond Tapsoba, Granit Xhaka and Amine Adli were still in the line-up from the last outing.
Leverkusen were cautious at the start of the match. Piero Hincapie had the first effort on goal on nine minutes: Nathan Tella won the ball on the right flank and crossed into the middle with Hincapie racing in at the far post. Mitchell Weiser put in a sliding tackle and the Werder keeper Michael Zetterer made the save. The match was calm even after the first big chance. The Werkself had more of possession with Werder Bremen mounting a resolute defensive response. The next clear goalscoring opportunity came on 22 minutes:Victor Boniface gained possesion in midfield and passed to Tella who crossed the ball straight into the opposition six-yard box. Jonas Hofmann was in the right spot to finish but Julian Malatini caught the Werkself player on the foot. Play continued before VAR intervened. Referee Harm Osmers then went to the monitor and awarded a penalty after reviewing the action. Boniface calmly converted the penalty to give the Werkself a 1-0 lead (25').
Bayer 04 maintained pressure after the opening goal with Xhaka and Hofmann also having good chances from outside the box (28’), Adli hit the bar from a tight angle (38,'). Just before the break, the visitors had a promising opportunity with Romano Schmid crossing the ball for several teammates before Lukas Hradecky intervened – the hosts took a 1-0 lead into half-time.
The Werkself also made a quiet start to the second half but remained on top – and it did not take long for the hosts to find the back of the net again: Xhaka tried his luck again from distance on 61 minutes and his impressive effort hit the top left corner of the net to make it 2-0. The game then took off. Florian Wirtz, who came on at start of the second half, produced an equally impressive finish seven minutes later: He turned on the edge of the box and fired a shot into the roof of the net to make it 3-0 (68'). Not much happened after that until the 84th minute as the Werkself moved up a gear again: Wirtz scored again from a long pass from Exequiel Palacios to make it 4-0 and he completed his hat trick a few minutes later for the final score of 5-0. From 80 minutes, fans were massed on the edge of the pitch supporting their team. When the final whistle came there was no holding back and the fans streamed onto the pitch. Bayer 04 Leverkusen are champions of Germany for the first time!
Winning the league title is followed by the next game in the Europa League: The Werkself are away to West Ham United on Thursday 18 April to decide progress to the semi-final stage. The match at the London Stadium kicks off at 21.00 CEST.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky - Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie (Grimaldo 77') - Xhaka (Palacios 77'), Andrich - Tella (Frimpong 63'), Hofmann, Adli (Wirtz 46’) - Boniface (Schick 63')
Werder Bremen: Zetterer – Malatini, Groß, Veljkovic – Weiser, Lynen, Agu – Schmid, Bittencourt (Hansen-Aarøen 77') – Woltemade, Ducksch
Goals: 1-0 Boniface (25’), 2-0 Xhaka (61’), 3-0 Wirtz (68’), 4-0 Wirtz (83’), 5-0 Wirtz (90’)
Booked: Adli - Bittencourt
Referee: Harm Osmers (Hannover)
Attendance: 30,210 (sold out) at the BayArena
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
Show more
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.
Show more
Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
Show more
“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
Show more
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...
Show more
