
“The match on Saturday night may very well (…) go down as one of the best in this Bundesliga season,” declares the WELT am Sonntag. “Both teams endeavoured to seek salvation in attack.”
The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger holds a similar view. “This wild 4-3 – Bayer took the lead, went behind and finally came out on top – was one of the most entertaining games in the current Bundesliga campaign,” the paper reports. “A gripping drama, great moves, outstanding goals.” The Werkself have thereby laid down “a marker in the battle for the top spots. Furthermore: “That should provide a boost for the forthcoming challenges in the Bundesliga, Europa League and the DFB Cup. Particularly as Leverkusen have rediscovered efficiency after weeks of squandering chances,” was part of the match report. “A win that, in retrospect, could be a real turning point in the season.”
And BILD talks about a “crazy game in Leverkusen” and provides an interesting statistic on double goalscorer Kevin Volland: “The striker has been involved in the opening goal nine times (4 goals, 5 assists) – top performer in the league!”
The EXPRESS refers to the double strike at the end of the game – and clearly cut out the time between the two Werkself goals scored by Leon Bailey and Lars Bender: “Bayer comeback in 80 wild seconds” was the headline of the match report. The newspaper agrees with the songs of praise about the match: “The spectators at Leverkusen were treated to a crazy spectacle! The cracker against BVB – it lived up to its promise.”
Why is analysed at RP Online: “Both the match and the atmosphere for the capacity 30,210 crowd at the BayArena were worthy of being called the top game,” it reports. “Both teams provided an intense encounter on the pitch – with the expectedly large number of attacking moves.”
The online edition of kicker describes the win as a “rousing home win” for the Werkself, “that could not have come at a more important point in time. As these three points put the Rhinelanders back in close touch with the Champions League positions.” Overall, it was a “great night of football.” Werkself supporters would find it hard to deny that.



The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 on Matchday 24 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...

A late goal secured a point for Bayer 04 at home to FSV Mainz 05 in a match that saw the Black and Reds dominant in the second half. Despite lots of possession, the Werkself initially found few gaps and fell behind after 67 minutes when Sheraldo Becker scored in a Mainz counter-attack. In the closing stages, Leverkusen threw everything forward once again and equalised through Jarell Quansah (88').
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