Xabi Alonso made five changes to his team from the weekend’s 2-2 draw away at RB Leipzig, including Matej Kovar replacing Lukas Hradecky in goal again. Leverkusen pushed for a win from the start against the Czech champions, who are still on their domestic winter break and already out of contention in the Champions League. Granit Xhaka had the first attempt inside three minutes, while Jonathan Tah saw an effort cleared off the line and Patrik Schick put a header narrowly wide. All the action was taking place in the Sparta half, but the Werkself just couldn’t find a way through at first.
Referee Georgi Kabakov then pointed to the spot after half an hour but reversed his decision to award Leverkusen a penalty for handball by Jaroslav Zeleny. Bayer 04 quickly put that behind them, though, and forged ahead when Jeremie Frimpong teed up Wirtz to finish into the bottom left corner. As things stood, the Bundesliga champions were up to sixth in the table.
The first chance after the break fell to probably Prague’s best player in Victor Olatunji, but the Werkself then retook control of proceedings and got a second just after the hour mark. Alejandro Grimaldo’s free-kick was too hot to handle for Sparta goalkeeper Peter Vindahl, presenting Tella the opportunity to tuck away the rebound. It gave the Werkself a cushion in sixth place, which is where they ended up finishing thanks to their superior goal difference over Lille and Aston Villa on the back of a deserved 2-0 win.
By finishing in the top eight, Leverkusen avoid a play-off and go straight into the round of 16. The format from that stage continues as in previous years, with two legs (4/5 and 11/12 March), with the return fixture set to be played at the BayArena. The Werkself will discover their opponents following the play-offs when the draw for the last 16 is made on Friday, 21 February.
Bayer 04’s next two competitive fixtures are also in Leverkusen. First it’s Hoffenheim who come to town in the Bundesliga on Sunday (5.30pm CET) before the DFB Pokal quarter-final against Köln on Wednesday, 5 February (8.45pm).
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Kovar - Mukiele, Tah, Tapsoba - Frimpong (Arthur 88'), Palacios (Garcia 83'), Xhaka, Grimaldo - Wirtz (Hofmann 90'), Tella (Andrich 83') - Schick (Stepanov 90')
Sparta Prague: Vindahl - Vitik, Sevinsky, Sörensen - Wiesner (Suchomel 85'), Sadilek, Kairinen, Zeleny (Krasniqi 90'+3) - Laci (Danek 85') - Olatunji (Haraslin 67'), Birmancevic (Penxa 90'+3)
Goals: 1-0 Wirtz (32'), 2'0 Tella (64')
Yellow cards: Xhaka, Andrich - Birmancevic, Olatunji
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria)
Attendance: 30,210 (sold out) at the BayArena
In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...
After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
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Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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