While the opening phase was characterised by misplaced passes by both teams, the goal threat rose as the game progressed. After Jonas Hofmann made an impressive last-ditch challenge to deny Dortmund's Daniel Svensson (25'), Ibrahim Maza was put through to score the opener nine minutes later. Robert Andrich thwarted another BVB attack (40'), and coach Kasper Hjulmand said: "It was like a goal, it was very important and superbly defended." After the restart, Martin Terrier put the ball in the BVB net on the hour mark but the goal was ruled out for offside in the build-up after a VAR review. In the final phase, BVB kept going forward, with Karim Adeyemi having the best chance in stoppage time. But as he missed and the Werkself were able to celebrate their progress to the quarter-finals shortly after that with the 7,000 plus travelling Werkself fans. The match report is HERE.
After the game, Hjulmand spoke about a "close and difficult" clash. The Dane added: "We played out very well from the back, scored a great goal and then defended very well. We're through to the next round and very happy." When asked about the positive development of his team, he said: "We're on the right track, but we're only at the beginning. We can still play much better. We will continue to work hard."
Shortly after the final whistle, Maza "felt great" speaking to Werkself TV. “I'm very grateful. We all defended brilliantly together and produced a great move for the goal. It was a team performance." Terrier, for his part, aptly emphasised what mattered that evening: "The result is the most important thing in the Pokal. We're through to the next round, that was the target for today. The atmosphere in the dressing room is great, everyone’s very happy." Further statements from the duo and captain Andrich can be found HERE, the press conference with Niko Kovac and Hjulmand is HERE.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung, Rheinische Post and Frankfurter Rundschau all reported successful "revenge", alluding to the 2-1 defeat against BVB in the league at the weekend. The Leverkusener Anzeiger gave top marks to goalscorer Maza, while the performance of captain Andrich - this time in the centre of the back three - was rated 1.5. Bild Zeitung described the winning goal in their match report as follows: "Leverkusen play out brilliantly from the back. Grimaldo passes to Maza, who initially gets caught by Anton. But the ball ends up at his feet again allowing him to hit his shot into the top right corner - 1-0 (34')."
As with the victory after extra-time in Paderborn in the previous round, Maza was once again on the score sheet - and again named Man of the Match. The 20-year-old has now been directly involved in five goals in the last five matches (3 goals, 2 assists). When asked about his young player, Hjulmand explained: "His personality is great - he's so good to work with. He learns very quickly and always wants to do better. He has great potential. It's good for us that Ibo is with us."
There were also a number of debuts to celebrate: Ernest Poku and Christian Kofane started in the DFB Pokal for the first time, while Martin Terrier was in the starting XI for the first time this season. Malik Tillman made his first DFB Pokal appearance for Bayer 04. The 23-year-old only previously played in the competition in August 2021 for Bayern Munich in a 12-0 win over Bremer SV.
The Werkself have beaten Bundesliga rivals for the ninth time in the last eleven top-flight DFB Pokal ties. The only defeats were against Bayern Munich in 2018 in the semi-finals and 2020 in the final. Bayer 04 also reached the quarter-finals for the third season in a row after 2023/24 (going on to win the DFB Pokal) and 2024/25 (semi-finals) - a club record equalled (previously achieved from 1992 to 1994 and from 2014 to 2016). Another positive fact: The Werkself have won four away games in a row for the first time this calendar year (Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, VfL Wolfsburg, Benfica ).
The eventful run-up to Christmas continues. The next match is on Saturday, 6 December (kick-off: 15:30 CET), away to FC Augsburg. The draw for the DFB Pokal quarter-finals will be held on the ARD Sportschau at 19:15 CET on Sunday. The final fixtures in 2025 are home to Newcastle United in the Champions League and FC Köln - also in Leverkusen - and RB Leipzig away.
Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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