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.
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.”
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.
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).
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.
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.
The Bayer 04 women’s team secured a win in the friendly during the international break. Without a total of eight international players, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team defeated Bundesliga 2 side Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 at the Kurtekotten Training Centre, thanks to goals from Lobke Loonen (1’, penalty), Caroline Kehrer (41') and Valentina Mädl (66').
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without striker Christian Kofane in the coming weeks. The 20-year-old sustained a muscle injury to his left thigh on international duty with the Cameroon national team during the recent international break. This will prevent him from playing in the upcoming Werkself matches.
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FSV Mainz 05 went into the international break on the back of an away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Currently sixth in the table, the Rheinhessen side – who have been impressive on the road – now aim to continue their good start to the Bundesliga campaign at home when they face the Werkself on Saturday, 10 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). In terms of squad selection, Urs Fischer once again has more options at his disposal. Up front, the Mainz coach is likely to continue relying on what is currently the league’s most successful strike partnership. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Exciting experiences and exclusive insights into the Werkself and the BayArena awaited the young footballers from the BA04 Football Academy Guangzhou in China during their visit to the Rhineland this week. As well as taking part in a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy, the youngsters marvelled at the Bundesliga club’s stadium during a guided tour. The highlight of the visit was a private press conference with former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling, during which he shared tips from his own career with the young players. On Saturday afternoon, 10 October, the group will round off their visit by supporting the Werkself in the away match in Mainz.
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Fans ask, Carolin Simon answers: As part of Bayer 04’s second Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, the Leverkusen captain took questions from the community. The full-back, who returned to the club this summer after ten years away, set aside an hour and a half for the Q&A session with fans, offering a very personal insight into, amongst other things, her daily life as a footballer and her role as captain, as well as her passion for Pokémon.
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