Xabi Alonso made seven changes to his team from the dramatic win over Qarabag, and the Werkself got off to the perfect start when Florian Wirtz’s solo run and curling finish into the far corner got the 3,400 travelling Bayer 04 fans celebrating inside two minutes at the Europa-Park Stadion. The joy was only short-lived, though, as Ritsu Doan levelled after 10 minutes. Things calmed down after that until the final stages of the half when Adam Hlozek restored the lead going into the break. The Werkself continued to push after the restart and were quickly rewarded when Patrik Schick turned in Jeremie Frimpong’s cross via the help of both posts. Yannik Keitel got another back for the hosts with around 10 minutes to go, but the league leaders held on for a 3-2 win – the team’s seventh in a row in the Bundesliga to extend Bayer 04’s unbeaten run this season to 38 games. Read more about the match in our report.
“It’s fun to be on the pitch with these guys every week, and it was fun again from the start today. We were well set up for a tough game and immediately focused. We’ll continue to work hard and give everything every day,” said Wirtz after the game to Werkself-TV. Schick, who got his fourth goal in as many games, said of his run: “I work hard, just like all of us. And obviously it helps to have good crosses from my teammates, like today from Jeremie for my goal. Now is the most important part of the season, and we need every single player for that.”
“Bayer 04 pass Freiburg test” was the headline from the Rheinische Post. The Süddeutsche Zeitung didn’t believe it was an “overwhelming display” but Leverkusen “just keep on winning”. Bild highlighted the stat of 33 wins from that 38-match unbeaten run and described it as the streak “of champions”. kicker referred to the win as the “calm after the crazy” of the Qarabag result.
Jonathan Tah made his 250th Bundesliga appearance for Bayer 04, having made his league debut for the club in the 2-1 win at home to Hoffenheim on 15 August 2015. Tah himself said after the game in Freiburg: “I’m very pleased about this milestone. A lot of nice things have happened down the years and in all those games. I personally have come on a lot, but the club and the team have also taken big steps forward. We now want to keep gibing our all and reap the rewards for this season.”
Goalscorer Hlozek made his 50th Bundesliga appearance in Leverkusen colours, while Wirtz equalled his personal best campaign for league goals scored with seven.
Victory in Freiburg was Bayer 04’s sixth in a row away from home in the Bundesliga – a new club record. That streak began with the 1-0 win in Augsburg and has been followed by success in Leipzig, Darmstadt, Heidenheim and Cologne. The Werkself lead the Bundesliga for away points this season with 35 out of a possible 39, followed in second by Bayern (26).
The stats from the Freiburg game also went the way of Alonso’s men with 68 percent possession, 52 percent of challenges won, 19-11 on shots and a better passing rate (92 vs. 79 percent).
There’s a week off for the final international break of the year before Bayer 04 welcome Hoffenheim to the BayArena on Saturday, 30 March (3.30pm CET). That’s the start of three weeks of games every three/four days.
A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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So here we go again: Four weeks after the 2-0 home win in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, Olympiacos host the Werkself at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis this Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET - live on Werkself Radio) for the second encounter in a short space of time. It's the first leg of the knockout play-offs, and it's likely to be another high-intensity clash in a fiery atmosphere.
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The Werkself impressed in the 4-0 home win over FC St. Pauli with a performance that pleased head coach Kasper Hjulmand that had previously being missing and which he now wants to "use as a boost". Defenders Jarell Quansah and Edmond Tapsoba in particular once again stood firm at the back and scored at the other end - the latter now has the most goal involvements by a centre-back in the top five leagues. However, the Bayer 04 players are already looking forward to the forthcoming fixtures with a hunger for success and optimism. The Werkself review of the game on Carnival Saturday.
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