As in their opening match against TSG Hoffenheim, the Werkself got off to a good start against Bremen. Patrik Schick crowned Nathan Tella’s solo run with the opener after five minutes. Leverkusen doubled the lead with their second shot when Axel Tape sidestepped two opponents on the right. Via Robert Andrich, Alejandro Grimaldo and Christian Kofane, Malik Tillman got hold of the ball and juggled it on his chest and shoulder before volleying in with his left foot (35’). VAR intervened after Tape’s challenge on Mbangula and Romano Schmid pulled one back from the penalty spot (44’). Leverkusen almost replied immediately, only for the woodwork to prevent a third for the Werkself when Kofane hit the bar. Stark upended Kofane in the box and received his marching orders for a second bookable offence, with Schick converting the ensuing penalty (64’). But Bremen struck back despite their numerical disadvantage. Isaac Schmidt beat Bayer 04 keeper Mark Flekken to a long ball and found the empty net (76’) before Coulibaly rewarded Bremen’s pressure with the equaliser in added time (90’+4). Read the match report HERE.
Leverkusen were disappointed after the match. “If we lead 3-1 and are a man up, we must take three points. We were too wild and made many mistakes after the sending-off. We must start playing as a team immediately, otherwise we won’t win any matches,” summarised captain Robert Andrich. Nathan Tella agreed: “We had it in our own hands and made life difficult for ourselves.” Head coach Erik Ten Hag commented: “The two goals we conceded despite being a man up should have never happened. We didn’t function as a team any more in the closing stages.” Malik Tillman too was disappointed: “I had imagined my debut differently, my feelings are rather bad. A victory for the team is more important than my goal.”
“Werder turnaround despite being a man down,” Bild am Sonntag reported. The Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung headline read: “Leverkusen do many ‘stupid things,’” citing midfielder Malik Tillman. The kicker title read: “Coulibaly crowns Werder madness.” Patrik Schick received a high mark from the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: “After a few minutes, he was where a striker has to be and crowned Tella’s assist to open the scoring. He chipped the penalty into the middle of the goal to make it 3-1.” The Rheinische Post praised forward Christian Kofane: “He rarely had good chances at first but set up the second goal by Malik Tillman. He was out of luck when he hit the bar and won the penalty that resulted in the third goal.”
After Jarell Quansah, Ernest Poku, Christian Kofane and Claudio Echeverri had made their Bundesliga debuts against Hoffenheim, Axel Tape and sub Loïc Badé made their maiden Bundesliga appearances. Badé and Tillman made their first competitive appearance in Leverkusen colours. Patrik Schick once again demonstrated his outstanding quality in front of goal. The 29-year-old boasts 66 Bundesliga goals for Bayer 04 after his brace against Bremen and is in fifth place in the club’s all-time scorer rankings. The Czech has his sights set on the top three: he is within striking distance of Dimitar Berbatov (69 goals) and Herbert Waas (72).
Bayer 04 dominated possession (56 percent) and were in front in terms of pass completion rate (89 percent to Bremen’s 84) and corners (7-3). Werder had the higher xGoals number (2.59 to Leverkusen’s 2.10) and took more shots (13-10). Nathan Tella was the fastest player at 35.76 km/h.
After the first international break of the season, the Black and Reds entertain Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday, 12 September. The game against the team from Hesse, who have won their first two Bundesliga matches, kicks off at the BayArena at 20:30 CEST
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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Having previously recorded six consecutive home wins across all competitions, Bayer 04 suffered their first home defeat of 2026/27 as they went down 4-2 to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Matchday 8. The visitors capitalised on their first two chances to score, with Ermedin Demirovic and Jamie Leweling finding the net in the first half. Although Patrik Schick got a goal back in the first half, Bilal El Khannouss and Demirovic again added further goals for Stuttgart. Bayer 04 didn’t give up, but Ibrahim Maza’s goal proved little more than a consolation.
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The Bayern Munich women’s football team are unbeaten in all domestic competitions in the last 62 matches. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the Bayer 04 women’s team will make their next attempt to end the holders unbeaten run in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie. For coach Roberto Pätzold, there are a number of factors that give the Werkself cause for optimism despite the high-calibre opposition.
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