First Round, 10.08.2019: Alemannia Aachen v Bayer 04 1-4 (0-2)
The first competitive match in the 2019/20 campaign took three Black and Red players on a trip down memory lane. The Werkself kicked off the season away to Alemannia Aachen in the first round of the DFB Cup and that certainly evoked pleasurable thoughts of old and new times for Simon Rolfes, Kai Havertz and Hans-Peter Lehnhoff.
The Bayer 04 sporting director came to the attention of Leverkusen as a young player for Alemannia in the second division in 2004/05 and he still lives in the area. Kai Havertz was born in Aachen and his parents live just outside Aachen in Alsdorf. The young Kai took his first steps in the game as a youth player at Alemannia Mariadorf. His grandad used to be the chairman of the club when today’s team liaison manager Hans-Peter Lehnhoff was a talented forward. In front of a full house at the Tivoli – with 4,000 Bayer 04 fans amongst the 30,000 crowd – the battling underdogs initially competed on equal terms. However, an unlucky own goal by Aachen’s captain Hachenberg (19’) and a disguised low shot from Kevin Volland (39’) gave the disciplined favourites a 2-0 lead at half-time.
A goal scored by Batarilo from a counter-attack (56’) briefly got the home fans on their feet. But the hopes of the Alemannia fans disappeared fifteen minutes later when Leon Bailey made it 3-1 seconds after coming off the bench. And a man from Aachen in Black and Red rounded off the scoring: Kai Havertz netted for the final score of 4-1 (88’).
Match stats:
Alemannia Aachen: Cymer – Fiedler (Glowacz 81’), Heinze, Hackenberg, Wallenborn (Salata 69’) – Rakk (Pütz 83’) – Müller, Batarilo, Garnier, Rüter – Bors
Bayer 04: Özcan – Dragovic, S. Bender, Tah – Bellarabi (Bailey 72’), Aránguiz (Baumgartlinger 72’), Demirbay, Wendell – Havertz, Volland, Amiri (Diaby 80’)
Goals: 0-1 Hackenberg o.g. (19’), 0-2 Volland (39’), 1-2 Batarilo (56’), 1-3 Bailey (72’), 1-4 Havertz (88’)
Referee: Martin Petersen (Stuttgart)
Booked: Wallenborn
Attendance: 30,861 (sold-out)
Bayer 04 can go through to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the ninth time tonight, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET) and be in the top 16 clubs in Europe. A good omen: Leverkusen have progressed to the next round after winning the first leg in 20 of their 22 knockout rounds in European competitions to date. For their part, Greek record champions Olympiacos rested several players for last weekend’s league fixture ahead of the play-off second leg at the BayArena and will now do everything in their power to turn the tide with their usual aggressive and high pressing. The discussions on Werkself radio are likely to be just as intense as the battle on the pitch, with commentator Florian Bechholz welcoming honorary captain Stefan Kießling and goalkeeper Mark Flekken. Today’s matchday news.
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With the advantage of the 2-0 first-leg win in the play-offs, the Werkself are looking to book their place in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League at the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the home game against Olympiacos on Tuesday, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand and goalkeeper Janis Blaswich spoke about the position ahead of the match, the visitors' strength at set-pieces and a personnel issue for the home side.
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With a win in the Greek Super League last weekend, Olympiacos achieved success on the pitch ahead of the UEFA Champions League play-off second leg at Bayer 04 on Tuesday, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET). Coach José Luis Mendilibar rested many of his regular starters.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 0-1 loss against TSG Hoffenheim on the 19th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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