Leverkusen started the contest positively and had the early chances, patiently searching for gaps in the Milan rearguard and often trying with switches of play from Aleix Garcia. Victor Boniface then thought he'd given the hosts the lead but Jeremie Frimpong was offside in the build-up. Soon after the restart, though, Boniface did break the deadlock. Garcia’s lovely through ball to Alejandro Grimaldo in the box was flicked into the path of Frimpong. His shot was only parried by Maignan, presenting the Nigerian with the simple job of tapping in. Having taken the lead, the Werkself retreated a bit, allowing the Rossoneri a few isolated chances, including a shot from Theo Hernandez that struck the woodwork. However, the Werkself kept their concentration until the end and saw out the win. Read the full match report HERE.
Head coach Xabi Alonso was a proud man at full time: "We have great opponents in the Champions League. We showed the right mentality, which we need if we want to go far. We treated Milan very seriously and with the necessary respect. The players gave everything to get the three points."
Lukas Hradecky, meanwhile, praised the fans for their support in the first home game of this Champions League campaign: "Matches like this are every player's dream, you have endless energy. The fans carried us to the end. It's always very nice to experience this at the BayArena." Florian Wirtz agreed: "The fans really went for it again, it was nice. It's always a lot of fun to play here - especially on Champions League nights."
In their match report, the Rheinische Post went with the headline "Leverkusen overpower AC Milan" and wrote: "Bayer Leverkusen had everything under control for a long time against Milan, then the Italians turned up the heat. It finished in a narrow but not undeserved 1-0 win for Bayer in their first Champions League home match in almost two years." Bild saw the narrow win as "absolutely fair, even though luck was on Bayer's side in the closing stages".
kicker wrote: "Bayer dictated the tempo from the beginning", although the magazine also noted: "Leverkusen did give away some easy chances, which meant the Rossoneri stayed in the game until the end."
Wirtz was again named Player of the Match by UEFA in the second Champions League game of his career, having previously won the award after his brace in the 4-0 win at Feyenoord on his debut, where he also became the first German player to net twice in his first appearance in Europe's premier club competition. Garcia received the highest individual rating from the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, who said: "Garcia produced some beautiful and pinpoint balls across the field to Grimaldo and Frimpong. Initiated the goal with a through ball. Also alert defensively. Leverkusen's best player."
Boniface also had reason to celebrate, as the Nigerian international scored the first Champions League goal of his career against Milan.
Despite a dominant display particularly in the first half, the stats point to an even contest. Both teams had 16 shots on goal, while the Werkself had possession 50.3 percent of the time. While the visitors had the better tackling ratio (58 to 42%), Leverkusen were slightly more accurate in their passing (91.7 to 90.2%).
Irrespective of that, one statistic is particularly pleasing: Bayer 04 are now unbeaten in 10 home games in European competitions - a new club record.
Next for the Werkself is Matchday 6 of the Bundesliga, when they take on newcomers Holstein Kiel on Saturday 5 October at 15:30 CEST. That's followed by the second international break of this season.
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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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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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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