"Hertha inflict serious blow on Leverkusen's Champions League ambitions with a 2-0 victory," is the summary in kicker online. "The Berliners shocked the initially very dominant Werkself by taking the lead out of the blue," added the sports journal, and said that Bayer 04 "were frustrated by a brilliant defensive performance from their opponents."
The Werkself are at least praised for the opening stages of the game. "In the first quarter of an hour, it looked as if the team under coach Peter Bosz had travelled to the Olympic Stadium with enough confidence," analysed the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. "Hertha were struggling to prevent the Werkself creating good chances on goal. But with the opening strike they pulled the plug on Bayer 04."
RP Online provides a similar description of the unfortunate course of the first 25 minutes at the Olympic Stadium. The journal tributes "motivated" to the "start by the visitors with threats particularly coming from their wingers Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey. The best chances in a good start to the game fell to Kai Havertz (5') and Kevin Volland (6')." However, then there is the big but: "The fact the Werkself did not take their chances came back to haunt them. Matheus Cunha rounded off the first really successful move by Hertha to make it 1-0 (22') – Bayer keeper Lucas Hradecky stood no chance with the shot from 14 metres out."
The rest of the match draws the following analysis from FAZ: "Hertha were very defensive after taking the lead and worked hard to close space down. Leverkusen moved well up to the box but the final pass often went astray." The assessment is therefore short and succinct: "The Berliners were more effective than Leverkusen."
The WELT AM SONNTAG provides a remarkable fact in the unfortunate performance by the Werkself: "Bayer 04 Leverkusen failed to score in the Bundesliga for the first time since the 1-0 defeat earlier in the season against Hertha. The Werkself have only lost both games this season against the team from Berlin."
There is now only a glimmer of hope for next Saturday due to the opponents’ performance highly praised by the media. "Ahead of the final matchday, Bayer must hope for the next step forward for Berlin," writes the EXPRESS. "As Hertha are then away to Champions League rivals Gladbach."
The BILD am Sonntag clearly states the position before the final matchday: "Leverkusen have to win (against Mainz), and Gladbach lose (against Hertha)." The tabloid does show another route to the Champions League for the Werkself: "Or: Leverkusen win the Europa League in August. As the winners automatically qualify for the Champions League."
With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
Show more
Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
Show more
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
Show more
A memorable 12 months: 2025 was a year marked by success, intense competition and groundbreaking innovations for the #B04eSports team. After ending the 2024/25 season as runners-up, the Leverkusen-based console pros got down to business in a new, completely restructured season model, in which showdowns rather than divisions were the decisive factor on the road to the final round of the German Club Championship. Bayer 04 quickly earned a place in the history books of the most prestigious competition in German eSports and secured some valuable advantages for the coming year. Bayer04.de takes a look back at 12 months full of passion and the determination to take the next step.
Show more
Sustainability once again had many faces at Bayer 04 in 2025: In community activity, the club supported countless regional campaigns, including the Leverkusener Tafel, the Frauenennotruf Leverkusen e.V. and the homeless aid organisation "Kältegang". But the Black and Reds have also been involved in good causes around the world - including the Young Coaches training programmes in Uganda and Ecuador plus the Genuine World Cup in the USA, where the Inclusion Werkself competed. Bayer 04 was also fully committed to the environment and underwent external and independently certification in accordance with the European environmental management standard EMAS, for example, to analyse and optimise the club’s environmental efforts. Looking back at sustainability in 2025.
Show more
