"Relieved and satisfied, the Bayer Leverkusen players celebrated their last-minute victory at FSV Mainz 05 with their reconciled fans. The late winner puts the Werkself sixth in the Bundesliga on 28 points and enables them to be able to relax and enjoy Christmas," was the assessment of the current situation at Bayer 04 in the WAZ. "Lucas Alario secured three valuable points in the race for European qualification after the visitors were reduced to ten men on 71 minutes following the dismissal of Wendell for two bookable offences in front of a crowd of 24,345 on Saturday."
The headline of the match report in RP Online reads: 'Bayer 04 end the year with a victory with ten men'. The article says the Werkself have "opted for a peacable end to a turbulent year." However, the late win at Mainz was "hard work". "And also slightly flattering."
The BILD am Sonntag pays particular attention to the decisions determined by VAR. "Both teams had a goal disallowed by the video refs," reported the tabloid. The supposed opening goal from Kevin Volland was described as follows: "Mainz defender Niakhaté wanted to clear the ball on 65 minutes, Amiri intercepts the ball and crosses from the left to put Leverkusen in the lead. So everybody thought! But then the studio in Cologne rolled into action. They saw the following: The ball deflected off Amiri's body onto his hand. The goal was chalked off. Correctly."
The Tagesspiegel sums up the course of the match up to the frenetic closing stages as befits the fourth Sunday of Advent as follows: "With a bit of calm and patience, Christmas can be great. But both teams seriously needed that in the first half – each in their own way: While Leverkusen dominated possession, Mainz had the better chances – including a strike from Adam Szalai ruled out for offside. The same fate hit Leverkusen after the break: With the goal from Kevin Volland, Nadiem Amiri's hand was involved in the build-up. And it was even worse for the visitors when Wendell was then sent off for a second bookable offence."
Bayer 04 received a lot of praise for being a man down in the closing stages. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reports: "In contrast to (…) Cologne, the Werkself being reduced to ten men did not make itself felt in Mainz. Indeed, the ten Leverkusen players upped the pressure and took risks. 'Because we wanted to win,' said coach Peter Bosz who brought on striker Alario after the sending off and he was rewarded for his courage."
That assessment was evident in the headline in the online edition of kicker. The headline in sports journal reads: "Alario rewards Bosz' courageous approach" and the report continues: "Bayer (…) contributed to an attacking encounter late on. Bosz brought on Alario in place of Demirbay (81') and thereby set the course for victory. And that's what happened: Havertz intercepted a Niakhaté pass, Zentner saved with his feet. The rebound fell to the captain who squared the ball to Alario for a tap-in at the far post (90+3')."
The EXPRESS describes the performance after the sending off as a "reviver" and the analysis reads: "With a man down, Bayer continued in the same vein and remained committed." The conclusion: "Character test passed!"
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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