
Head coach Xabi Alonso made three changes to the side that lost Tuesday’s DFB Cup final at Arminia Bielefeld as Victor Boniface, Aleix Garcia and Nathan Tella came in for Patrik Schick, Exequiel Palacios and Nordi Mukiele, with Robert Andrich dropping into the back three.
Amine Adli created the first Leverkusen opportunity of note when he went past several defenders down the right and crossed for Boniface, who couldn’t quite make contact. At the other end, Heidenheim came close through Adrian Beck when his shot from left of goal went narrowly wide of the far post. Frans Krätzig also hit the side netting for the hosts, who did well to restrict the Werkself to very little going forward thanks to their pressing.






Frank Schmidt’s side very nearly went ahead following a corner when Benedikt Gimber’s shot from a tight angle came off the crossbar and also the far post before bouncing clear. Striker Marvin Pieringer had a couple of attempts in quick succession as Leverkusen were forced to ride out the first half.
Things were similar after the restart as Alonso’s men struggled to find their groove going forward. However, Heidenheim also failed to threaten until Pieringer called Lukas Hradecky into action after the hour mark. The defending champions eventually managed to take control of proceedings and force the hosts back, but still chances were at a premium apart from a misplaced Schick header. However, Leverkusen would snatch all three points of a difficult game in the 91st minute when substitute Buendia fired in off the inside of the post from the edge of the box.




The result keeps the Bayer 04 within six points of Bayern Munich. Next up is a home game against Union Berlin at the BayArena on Saturday.
Match stats:
Heidenheim: Müller - Mainka (c), Gimber, Siersleben (Kerber 76’) - Traore, Busch (Scienza 56’), Schöppner (Niehues 90’+2), Krätzig - Dorsch (Conteh 76’), Beck (Schimmer 90’+2) - Pieringer
Bayer 04: Hradecky - Tah, Andrich (Hofmann 85’), Hincapié – Frimpong, Xhaka, García, Grimaldo - Tella (Arthur 68’), Adli (Buendía 77’) - Boniface (Schick 68’)
Goals: 1-0 Buendia (90'+1)
Yellow cards: Schöppner
Referee: Tobias Stieler
Attendance: 15,000 (sold out) at the Voith-Arena

The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
Show more
Due to maintenance work, the online shop and other digital services from Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be temporarily restricted or unavailable from Monday, 23 March (18:00 CET) to Thursday, 26 March. Bayer 04 will provide immediate updates via the club's official channels if the work is completed earlier than planned. The overview.
Show more
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-0 win against FC Carl Zeiss Jena on the 21th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
Show more
Thanks to a masterstroke from Katharina Piljic, the Werkself secured their eleventh win of the season in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. On Sunday evening, coach Roberto Pätzold's team beat FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1-0. Midfielder Piljic scored the winning goal with a volley into the corner from the edge of the box (19’) in front of 633 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium - and ensured that Leverkusen moved up to fifth place in the table for at least one night with 34 points.
Show more
Bayer 04 will have to make do without forward Martin Terrier in the next few weeks. The Frenchman sustained a muscle injury in his right hamstring in Saturday's 3-3 draw at Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.
Show more