It took precisely 111 seconds for the Werkself to draw first blood. A long ball from Jonathan Tah deep inside his own half caught out the Berlin defence and reached Alejandro Grimaldo, whose square ball left Jeremie Frimpong with a simple finish past goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow. The Black and Reds appeared to have everything under control but then allowed themselves to be caught off guard on the right-hand side, despite having plenty of bodies, and conceded the equaliser through Jeong (29'). After around an hour, Xabi Alonso made a difference with the introduction of Florian Wirtz and Exequiel Palacios. It was the Argentinian who set up Wirtz, and it was his pinpoint cross that Patrik Schick bundled in with his chest from five metres (71'). Read the full match report HERE.
"It was a close match, I'm very happy that I scored again," said winning goalscorer Schick. Frimpong spoke of a "big win against difficult opponents". Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, meanwhile, praised his side for making "a lot of mature decisions" on the pitch, highlighting: "It's been an issue for us that we've dropped points in previous away games. We stayed solid defensively and can be proud of the performance." The head coach took a similar view to his captain: "It's going well for us right now. It was important that we finally won away again - we've learned from the last few weeks," said Alonso.
The Bild am Sonntag picked out a remarkable statistic: "Leverkusen remain unbeaten for the 23rd consecutive away game in the Bundesliga - and are ready for the cup showdown against Bayern." Meanwhile, the Berliner Morgenpost reported on events from a Union point of view: "Union end goal drought but also suffer their first home defeat of the season against Leverkusen." In the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, the heading "That was good" could be seen: "The confidence and composure with which Leverkusen earned this win. Even the equaliser didn't disrupt the play. The double winners lived up to their favourites tag and came away with three deserved points, not something every club takes from the Alten Försterei."
The attention was on the two goalscorers, who each equalled a record. Frimpong's opener in the second minute equalled Schick's effort in the cup match against SV Elversberg as the Werkself's fastest goal of the season, while the Czech international netted for the 48th time in his 100 Bundesliga appearance in the black and red, equalling the record set by Ulf Kirsten. "To be honest, I didn't even know I could reach that mark in Berlin now, but it's obviously a very nice moment for me to have reached the record of our club legend Herr Kirsten," said Schick, who continued his good form of recent weeks. The striker has scored five goals in the last three games and eight in the last seven overall.
The tough-tackling Berliners had a slight edge in the direct duels (51%-49%) but otherwise, most of the stats favoured Bayer 04. The German champions were in front when it came to both possession (62%) and pass completion rate (85.4% to Union's 72.2%). In terms of shots on goal, it was even at eight apiece.
Bayer 04 now go into the second of three consecutive weeks with midweek fixtures. On Tuesday 3 December, the Black and Reds travel to Munich for a DFB Cup last-16 clash with FC Bayern. Kick-off at the Allianz Arena is at 20:45 CET. Four days later, it's back to Bundesliga action with the home match against FC St. Pauli on Saturday 7 December (15:30 CET).
Bayer 04 are through to the second round of the DFB Pokal after a 4-0 win at Sonnenhof Großaspach on Friday night. The game was paused after only 18 minutes due to a storm over the ground. After a lengthy delay, play resumed and Patrik Schick opened the scoring. Arthur, Christian Kofane and Alejandro Grimaldo made things more comfortable in the second half, as the fourth-tier side had two players sent off.
Show more
There were no goals across 115 minutes of football between Bayer 04 Women and PSV Eindhoven in Friday’s friendly. Roberto Pätzold’s team played two 45-minute periods before an extra 25 minutes two days prior to heading to Rieden for their training camp. Their Dutch opponents were preparing for their UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifier in 12 days.
Show more
The first round of the DFB Pokal takes Bayer 04 to Sonnenhof Großaspach on Friday. The amateur club have just gained promotion to the fourth-tier Regionalliga Südwest and kicked off their campaign with two impressive wins. Here’s all you need to know as Erik ten Hag makes his competitive bow as Werkself boss at the WIRmachenDRUCK Arena (kick-off: 6pm CEST).
Show more
After two months preparing for the new season, the Werkself play the first game of the 2025/26 campaign on Friday, 15 August (kick-off: 18:00 CEST) away to SG Sonnenhof Großaspach in the first round of the DFB Pokal. Ahead of the tie against the team newly promoted to the Regional League South West, head coach Erik ten Hag talked about his approach to the knockout game and his soft spot for cup competitions.
Show more
Bayer 04 Leverkusen has a new Premium Partner in its ranks in Düsseldorf company LumenHaus GmbH. The leading provider of networked home energy solutions has initially agreed a one-year partnership with the Bundesliga runners-up to the end of the 2025/26 season.
Show more
