Werkself review: ‘We played better than the result suggests’

Summary: Kofane opens the scoring, Schick secures draw

The opening quarter of an hour was evenly matched but the Werkself subsequently gained the upper hand. Eighteen minutes had been played when Christian Kofane controlled a long ball, left his marker in his wake and slotted home to make it 1–0. With that lead behind them, the team led by head coach Carles Martínez remained in control right up to half-time – FCA failed a to have a single shot on goal from minutes 17 to 45. Augsburg, however, came out of the break stronger and took the lead thanks to a quick-fire brace from Michael Gregoritsch (50’, 55’). The Werkself fought their way back into the game, again creating numerous chances, and managed to rescue a point with a late goal from Patrik Schick with a backheel (89’). But it wasn’t quite enough for victory.

• Match report
• Full match replay

• Highlights
• XXL highlights

Reaction: “The equaliser was well deserved in the end”

Head coach Carles Martínez summed up the match from his perspective at the post-match press conference as follows: “It was certainly an entertaining match for the fans and spectators today, with plenty of chances. Augsburg have made a very good start to the season, and we can only congratulate them on that. Their confidence was clear to see and feel today. Overall, though, I believe we deserved the win. We created plenty of chances – but unfortunately didn’t capitalise on enough of them. Augsburg did brilliantly after the break with their two goals. We gave it our all right to the end and fought our way back into the game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough for the win.”

Managing director sport Simon Rolfes said: “We played better than the result suggests – but unfortunately stopped playing football for five to eight minutes. Suddenly we were 2-1 down, and to be honest I’m not quite sure why that happened. After that, we put them under a lot of pressure and created plenty of chances. That’s why the equaliser at the end was thoroughly deserved. Nevertheless, we let this match slip from our grasp; we were the better team.”

• Post-match reaction
• Post-match press conference

What the papers say: “Constant pressure from Leverkusen”

kicker noted Augsburg had “ten strong minutes after the restart, with the team from the Fuggerstadt – who were clearly outplayed up to that point – unexpectedly turning the game around. Leverkusen’s subsequent sustained pressure only earned the Rhinelanders an equaliser – but at least that was something.” Bild Zeitung reported a “last-minute equaliser at the death” and a “strong Leverkusen display” in the first half. The Rheinische Post highlighted a “ten-minute blackout”, apart from which “Leverkusen had the game under control for long stretches”. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger awarded the best individual ratings to captain Edmond Tapsoba plus the two goalscorers, Christian Kofane and Patrik Schick.

Personnel: Strikers make their mark

The two strikers on the pitch produced the Leverkusen goals. The strike at 1–0 was Christian Kofane’s third goal involvement in his last three Bundesliga away matches; all four of his league goals in 2026 have been scored on the road. For his part, Patrik Schick has been directly involved in at least one goal in each of his last three Bundesliga matches (3 goals, 1 assist).

Stats: Record number of shots

By half-time, the Werkself had already had 13 shots on goal – more than they had managed in any away Bundesliga match for the past year and a half. They actually surpassed that figure in the second half, meaning that by the final whistle they had recorded a total of 30 shots on goal – a record for a team in a single match in the current Bundesliga campaign.

Next up: Two home games before international break

Bayer 04 are back in action at the BayArena next – twice, in fact. First, the Werkself kick off their Europa League campaign with a home match against NK Celje from Slovenia on Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST) . Tickets for the match are available HERE. Then RB Leipzig are the visitors next Sunday, 20 September (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). A few remaining tickets from reserved allocations have become available for this fixture – these are available HERE.