The Kölner Stadt Anzeiger reaches the following conclusion: "Bayer 04 had BVB up against the Yellow Wall at times – and lost." The report continues: "It wasn't really clear whether disappointment or pride had the upper hand with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. They completely dominated the league leaders in front of the most impressive crowd in the Bundesliga. They recovered from setbacks - but lost 3-2 against Borussia Dortmund in the end.“ ...The kick-off was the starting shot for an impressive 30-minute all-out attack by the nominally more defensive Leverkusen side. Julian Brandt, Kai Havertz and Charles Aránguiz ran rings round Dortmund. Such dominance by visitors to the Signal Iduna Park has not been seen for a long time. 75 per cent possession, 200 passes by Leverkusen compared with 80 from Dortmund. The only thing missing for the Werkself was a goal."
The Kicker chose this headline: "No points for Bayer but near to perfection." The report continues: "Bayer pinned back BVB in the first 30 minutes with a mixture of confidence, comfort on the ball and accurate passing and they put them under incredible pressure. Bayer were completely on top at this stage but could not get the ball in the BVB net. ...In the end it was absolutely avoidable defeat."
The Bild Zeitung declares: "Bosz run ends at Dortmund" and they quote the BVB coach Lucien Favre: "We struggled against Bayer." And Lukas Hradecky also shared his assessment: "We were on top of Dortmund up to the first goal. The way we played was good. Therefore, I'm convinced we can finish in the top six."
The Kölnische Rundschau sums up the 90 minutes at Dortmund with the headline: "Pedigree, class and five goals."
And the Dortmund media knew how to correctly rank the flattering victory for BVB. The Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung reports: "League leaders struggle to 3-2 win against Leverkusen." And the Ruhr Nachrichten came to the conclusion from a Borussia perspective: "Luck in games has returned."
The Werkself have reached at least the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal in each of the last three years. The Black-and-Reds would like to make it to the final four of the competition again this season, but to do that they'll need to overcome 1. FC Nürnberg in round two, who travel to the BayArena with momentum following a successful league campaign so far. However, Bayer have a 100 percent record at home in all competitions this season - and have also won six of their last seven home matches in the Pokal. The Matchday News.
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Back at home in the second round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal, Bayer 04 host FC Nürnberg at the BayArena. The match against the current second-placed side in Bundesliga 2 is on Wednesday 28 October at 20:45 CET. Ahead of the game, head coach Carles Martínez spoke, amongst other things, about his anticipation of the clash in front of a home crowd. The Spaniard also commented on a number of personnel matters, including Ibrahim Maza and Montrell Culbreath, plus the visitors’ coach, Miroslav Klose.
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Now in their third season under head coach Miroslav Klose, FC Nürnberg are among the promotion contenders in Bundesliga 2. On Wednesday 28 October (kick-off: 20:45 CET), the team currently second in the table are away to Bayer 04 in the second round of the DFB Pokal. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Werkself player Ibrahim Maza has been named in the top ten in the ‘Men’s Young Talent of the Year’ category for 2026. The 20-year-old was at the London Palladium on Monday evening for the 2026 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony. Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, also attended the ceremony. Lamine Yamal of Barcelona was named the winner in the ‘Men’s Young Talent of the Year’ category.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without forward Moussa Diaby for their upcoming matches. The 27-year-old Frenchman sustained a thigh injury in the 3-0 defeat against TSG Hoffenheim yesterday afternoon, Sunday 25 October. Diaby is expected to be available again after the international break in November.
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