Werkself review #ELVB04: ‘Do much, much better next week’

In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.

Edmond Tapsoba und Christian Kofane vor der Kurve

Summary: Fightback just fails

The Werkself found themselves two goals down early on against the league newcomers – Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) put the hosts 2–0 up. The Black and Reds found their feet after around 20 minutes and could well have pulled a goal before half-time, but both a header from Loïc Badé (21') and a free-kick from Aleix Garcia (38’) just missed the target by a few centimetres short. Instead, SVE were clinical after the restart, with David Mokwa extending the lead to 3–0 (46’). However, Bayer 04 did not give up and succeeded in pulling one back with a goal from Patrik Schick (77’). Christian Kofane (90+1’) netted at 3-2 in added time but that was it for the Carles Martínez team – although Jonas Hofmann did just miss out on a last-minute equaliser (90+2’).

Match report
Match highlights
Full match

Reaction: ‘A few things need to change’ ahead of home opener

“Sometimes in football it’s all about the basics, about precision or one-on-one duels. And today our performance wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” declared head coach Carles Martínez at the post-match press conference. The Spaniard said: “We – and I, too – must learn from this match so we can do much, much better next week and then win.”

Mark Flekken shared his assessment after the match: “Unfortunately, we gave Elversberg too many chances and conceded easy goals.” The Dutchman took one positive from the game: “We managed to pull one back in the end and make it a nail-biter again.” He set out the approach to the upcoming home opener: “A few things need to change – we need to be physically and mentally prepared, start with energy, play clean passing football and cut out the mistakes. And, of course, we need to take our chances up front.”

Ibrahim Maza, too, wants to “analyse what went wrong, look ahead and win the next match.” The 20-year-old noted “too many small mistakes that led to us conceding goals”, but he also realises: “We still had plenty of chances in the second half; we might have been able to turn it around.”” However, he, too, is certain: “Next week, it should be clear from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents – then we’ll get the job done.”

Post-match reaction
Post-match press conference

What the papers say: “Bayer fightback comes too late”

The kicker saw a Werkself side that “stepped up the pressure massively in the closing minutes” but were “unable to force a late equaliser”, concluding: “Bayer fightback comes too late”. The Rheinische Post report concurs: “Bayer came close to an equaliser”, while the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, in its individual player ratings, noted the positive impact of the substitutes Facundo Medina, Kofane and Hofmann.

Personnel: Schick on target

At the start of the league season against SV Elversberg, it wasn’t just head coach Martínez and assistant coach Pol García who made their Bundesliga debuts. Miguel Gutiérrez, Afonso Moreira and Facundo Medina all took to the pitch in Germany’s top flight for the first time. Meanwhile, Patrik Schick found the back of the net for the fourth time in his third match against the Saarland side, scoring half of all Leverkusen goals in encounters with ‘Elv’.

Stats: Late Werkself dominance

The stats also reflect Leverkusen’s dominant closing stages: In the last 15 minutes of the match, 42 per cent of the action took place in Elversberg’s defensive third of the pitch – the home side’s final shot of the match was a long-range effort on 69 minutes.

Next up: Home opener against Union Berlin

The next chance to pick up points comes on Saturday 5 September (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) at the BayArena. The opponents in the first home match of the new Bundesliga season are Union Berlin. A week later, on Saturday 12 September (kick-off: 15:30 CEST), the team face an away fixture at FC Augsburg. Any remaining tickets for both matches are available HERE.