The Werkself were initially focused at the start of the game and primarily impressed with good periods of possession and seamless moves. After impressive work in the build-up by Moussa Diaby and Robert Andrich, Callum Hudson-Odoi appeared to have broken the deadlock but it was chalked off due to a foul by Andrich earlier in the move. With five minutes to play before half-time, there was a hectic course of events: After another disallowed goal, this time for Porto's Mehdi Taremi, and a missed penalty from Patrik Schick, the two sides went into the break with the score at 0-0. After the restart, it was primarily the Portuguese champions who were on the front foot and they were rewarded with goals from substitutes Zaidu (69') at 1-0 and Galeno (87') at 2-0. HERE is the match report.
After the game, Gerardo Seoane summed up the performance of his team in the first half as "very complete." There was great effort and that led to the creation of qualitatively good situations. The 43-year-old coach did however admit: "But then we missed the opportunity to turn effort into goals."
Jonathan Tah also named efficiency as the crucial factor speaking to Werkself TV: "We started really well and produced an impressive performance and energy for long stretches. We should have got our reward," said the defender before adding: "I didn't feel in the second half that the team had less desire. But if you go all out the whole time and don't get a reward then it gets crazy in the end." But the aim is to take the energy from the first half into the forthcoming games: "There's still everything to play for in the Champions League. And if we succeed in landing a punch up front that I think we’ll be able to win our next league game at home to Schalke 04."
Jonathan Tah and Co. met up with a very familiar face in the match against Porto: Wendell moved on to Portugal from Bayer 04 in the summer of last year. The full-back joined the Werkself from the Brazilian club Grêmio Porto Alegre in the 2014/2015 season and he went on to play 250 games for the Black and Reds. The 29-year-old defender started for the opposition last night and he played for 63 minutes.
The numbers from the game: Porto with eleven shots on goal had two more than the Werkself (9). The Seoane team did have their noses in front in terms of possession with 57%. The same applied to pass completion: 84% of all passes found their target for the Werkself and the Portuguese had a return of 75%. The two teams were neck and neck in the number of challenges at 50% each.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung headline reads "crazy game." The EXPRESS describes the Leverkusen performance as "tough, committed – but beaten once again." The Leverkusener Anzeiger sums up the best chance in the first half as follows: After a polite opening quarter of an hour with the focus on avoiding mistakes, the Bayer support suddenly grew loud under the spectacular roof structure at the Estádio do Dragão. An impressive move by Moussa Diaby and Robert Andrich's precise cross to the far post ended with Callum Hudson-Odoi firing the ball under the bar." The second half was described as follows: "Porto shook off their reticence in the second half, attacked the Leverkusen defenders significantly earlier and provoked mistakes."
The Werkself head home from Porto today and there will be another training session in Leverkusen this afternoon. There will be training sessions over the next two days before Schalke 04 visit the BayArena on Bundesliga matchday nine on Saturday 8 October (kick-off: 15.30 CEST). The newly promoted team lost 3-2 against FC Augsburg last weekend. The Black and Reds play Porto next Wednesday 12 October (kick-off: 21.00 CEST) at home in the return match in the UEFA Champions League.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
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The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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