The Werkself have put an "End to the crisis" against the team from Hessen after a run of three games without a win as the headline in the Süddeutsche Zeitung suggests. In an "extensively exciting and intense battle", the team under head coach Peter Bosz secured revenge for the 2-1 defeat in the Bundesliga ten days ago.
The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger highlights the mentality of the Werkself in their review. Commenting on the second half: "Bayer went into the second half full of confidence and finished with even more. The reward came on 49 minutes albeit with the help of the match officials. Kerem Demirbay, who was bossing the game in midfield, hit a free kick from 40 yards out onto the head of Edmond Tapsoba who guided the ball into the net. Refereed Dingert drew a decisive and wrong conclusion: goal. Bayer 04 were 3-1 up although Tapsoba was in an offside position."
Moussa Diaby, with his brace, and midfield dynamo Demirbay earned top marks on the night according to the KStA.
The report in the Rheinische Post begins with an historic fact: "Bayer Leverkusen have played 71 league games against Eintracht Frankfurt but the fixture, which has never ended goalless, is a rarity in the cup. The two teams only met for the second time in the knockout competition." As a reminder: The first cup tie also ended with a three-goal advantage to the Werkself. In the semi-final in 1993, Andy Thom, Ulf Kirsten and Co. beat SGE 3-0 and then went on to bring the trophy back to the Rhineland.
But back to the here and now: The Bild saw a match at the BayArena that "was not as clear-cut as the result suggests." Under the headline ("Through with 10 men! Now it's Essen for Bayer") the tabloid highlights the dismissal of Jonathan Tah for an alleged professional foul (73'). And also looks at the next cup opponents for the Werkself: Rot-Weiss Essen. The fourth division team knocked out Fortuna Düsseldorf in the second round with a 3-2 win. Last year's cup finalists now travel to the Ruhr Valley at the start of February...
Winger Synne Skinnes Hansen is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the end of the season. The 29-year-old, who will be out of contract, is set to join Valerenga IF back home in Norway.
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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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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed to loan U19 striker Artem Stepanov to FC Nürnberg, currently tenth in Bundesliga 2, for the 2025/26 season. The Ukrainian centre-forward is set to gain match practice at a high level under the guidance of FCN coach and World Cup winner Miroslav Klose. The loan is due to run for twelve months.
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The last home game of the season for the Bayer 04 Women against RB Leipzig on Saturday (12:00 CEST) will be a special experience for fans. As part of the family matchday, Bayer 04 are offering fans a wide-ranging programme of events in and around the Ulrich Haberland Stadium similar to the game against Werder Bremen. This will include three special prizes for supporters to win.
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