
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...

The Werkself conceded a late goal to suffer the third defeat of the season in Monday night's Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga fixture on matchday ten. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team lost 2-1 at SC Freiburg. Vanessa Fudalla (65’) scored the only goal for Bayer 04 who are now fifth in the table on 19 points.
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Bayer 04 midfielder Ibrahim Maza was honoured in Paris in the Best Algerian Young Player category at the Fennec d'Or awards for the Algerian Footballer of the Year, organised for the first time by the football journal La Gazette du Fennec. "It's an honour for me," said the 19-year-old, delighted with the award.
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On the back of two wins within four days, Bayer 04 Women round off an intensive Bundesliga week in the Black Forest. Roberto Pätzold's side have the chance to move back up to third place against SC Freiburg in the final fixture of Matchday 10 on Monday (18:00 CET) and draw level on points with second-placed VfL Wolfsburg.
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The last international break of this calendar year features the final qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. An overview of who's playing where and when from a Leverkusen point of view.
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