The Werkself were focused from the start and the opposition keeper Simon Mignolet was able to keep out the first chances for Leverkusen. Bayer 04 almost scored in the middle of the first half but the Belgian keeper saved a shot from a tight angle by Moussa Diaby (33'). The first half ended goalless. The second 45 got off to a frenetic start with a number of clear-cut chances for both sides. However, the keepers denied chance after chance in this phase of the game. After that, neither team was able to achieve much in attack and the Werkself focused on a solid defensive performance – with success: The team under Xabi Alonso ended up with a clean sheet, thereby picking up a point and qualifying for the UEFA Europa League with the help of Porto. The Black and Reds ended the Champions League group stage in third place with five points. Porto won the group ahead of Club Brugge. Atlético Madrid dropped down to fourth place. The match report on #B04CLU is HERE.
"To be honest, I only realised we'd qualified for the Europa League at the end. I thought we had to win right up to the final minutes. Of course, I'm very happy about going through to the Europa League," said Robert Andrich making clear his joy in an interview with Werkself TV. The midfielder did however express some critical words: "It definitely wasn't a brilliant game. We didn't make the most of our chances. We rarely completed the final and penultimate pass. We have to keep on working on that."
Nadiem Amiri also shared his joy on qualifying for the Europa League in interview with Werkself TV: "It was a balanced game and fortunately the draw was enough. We played well in defence but we have to continue working hard on the offensive side to create chances and then to take them."
It was striking how the coach Alonso rotated six positions for the game against Club Brugge compared with the 2-0 defeat at RB Leipzig: Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Daley Sinkgraven, Adam Hlozek, Amine Adli, Nadiem Amiri plus the suspended Piero Hincapie were replaced by Odilon Kossounou, Jeremie Frimpong, Mitchel Bakker, Patrik Schick, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Exequiel Palacios. This was the first time Alonso played the 24-year-old Palacios in the current Champions League campaign. The Argentinian was sidelined in the middle of September due to a thigh injury. The midfielder played his first match in the Bundesliga under coach Alonso in last weekend's game against Leipzig – he made a 30-minutes appearance against RB. Palacios was now in the starting line-up for the first time since the 2010 World Cup winner has been in the Werkself dugout.
Leverkusen defenders received the best marks in the Rheinische Post reflecting the course of the game and the result: Odilon Kossounou, Edmond Tapsoba and Robert Andrich were all highly rated. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger gave their top mark to skipper Lukas Hradecky.
The KStA described the match as a "poor 0-0". The media mainly focused on the few clear-cut chances for both sides. There were goalscoring opportunities that were really dangerous but few in number. The Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung talks about a "less impressive footballing" display, SPORT1 an "uninspired" performance.
The Werkself had the greater number of shots on goal (13 to 8). The match was however a balanced affair: Leverkusen had a better pass completion rate and the majority of possession with the Belgian side standing out with a greater number of challenges.
The next game for the Werkself is on Bundesliga matchday 13. The Alonso team entertain league leaders Union Berlin on Sunday 6 November. The match against the Irons kicks off at 15.30 CET. That is followed three days later by the derby at FC Köln. That match starts at 18.30 CEST. The Black and Reds are at home to VfB Stuttgart at the BayArena on Bundesliga matchday 15. It is the final competitive match of the year for the Werkself with a 15.30 CET kick-off on Saturday 12 November.
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...
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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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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.
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The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
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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.
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