Compared to the 2-1 home win against FC Augsburg on the last day of the Bundesliga campaign, head coach Xabi Alonso rotated in five positions: Matej Kovar replaced Lukas Hradecky between the posts, Josip Stanisic came in for Odilon Kossounou in defence, and Exequiel Palacios began as a second holding midfielder alongside Granit Xhaka instead of Robert Andrich. Piero Hincapie and Florian Wirtz also started in place of Victor Boniface and Jonas Hofmann. The Werkself began the game aggressively in front of the 12,000 Bayer 04 fans in the sold-out Dublin Arena, but initially kept giving the ball away too easily.
The Black & Reds had their first sight of goal in the 4th minute, but Wirtz just failed to reach a long ball. Meanwhile at the back, Hincapie made a decisive challenge on Atalanta's dangerous striker Gianluca Scamacca (8'). The Werkself went behind in the 12th minute: Davide Zappacosta's low cross from the right found Ademola Lookman at the back post and he slotted home to make it 1-0 for the Italians. Just over ten minutes later, Lookman then curled the ball neatly into the bottom right-hand corner, leaving Kovar with no chance and making it 2-0 to Atalanta (26'). There weren't many chances for the Black & Reds in that period, as Bergamo defended with real focus and closed down counter-attacks and transitions early on. Things did improve for the Werkself towards the end of the first half though. In the 35th minute, for example, Grimaldo was played in by Palacios with a lob in behind the Italian back line. The Spaniard then also attempted to lob keeper Juan Musso as he rushed out, but the Atalanta stopper cleared the ball and the team went into the half-time break 2-0 down.
Alonso brought on Boniface for Stanisic for the second half, while Giorgio Scalvini replaced former Bundesliga player Sead Kolasinac for Atalanta. The Werkself made every effort to close the gap, but repeatedly lacked the final touch. Dangerous attempts for the Black & Reds were rare, although the stats showed 67 per cent possession in favour of Bayer 04 on the hour mark. Atalanta simply defended vigilantly and gave very little away.
Alonso tried making further changes, with Andrich and Adam Hlozek coming on for Palacios and Grimaldo. But despite the fresh personnel, Leverkusen still failed to score. It was a different story at the other end: following a counter-attack, Scamacca passed to Lookman on the left and he fired a powerful shot into the top right-hand corner - a hat-trick for Lookman and 3-0 for Atalanta (75'). Not much more happened until the final whistle, but shortly before the end of the game, there was one controversial incident in the penalty area when Hlozek was brought down. However, no penalty was awarded even after the VAR intervened. The game ended a little later in a 3-0 loss from the Black and Reds' point of view. Bayer 04 thus lost the final of the UEFA Europa League and suffered their first defeat of the season after 51 unbeaten competitive matches.
Next stop: Berlin. In three days' time, the Werkself move on to their second final and last competitive match of the season. On Saturday, 25 May (kick-off: 20:00 CEST), Bayer 04 take on 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the DFB Pokal final. The match will be played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
The stats:
Atalanta: Musso - Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac (46' Scalvini) - Zappacosta (84' Hateboer), Ederson, Koopmeiners, Ruggeri (90'+1 Toloi) - de Ketelaere (57' Pasalic), Scamacca (84' Toure), Lookman
Bayer 04: Kovar - Stanisic, Tah, Tapsoba - Frimpong (81' Tella), Xhaka, Palacios (69' Andrich), Hincapie - Wirtz (81' Schick), Grimaldo (69' Hlozek) - Adli
Goals: 1-0 Lookman (12'), 2-0 Lookman (26'), 3-0 Lookman (75')
Yellow cards: Djimsiti, Scamacca, Zappacosta, Koopmeiners - Wirtz, Tapsoba, Andrich
Referee: István Kovács (Romania)
Spectators: 46,500 (sold out) at the Dublin Arena
Eliminated ahead of the offline round: On Tuesday, 18 November, the Leverkusen console pros played the two remaining matches in the online preliminary round of showdown two. After picking up six points from the first four games last week, the #B04eSports team bagged another three in the two final duels - but it wasn't enough. The Leverkusen team missed out on a place in the offline knockout round, which will take place in this second showdown on 23 November in Frankfurt am Main.
Show more
The VBL Club Championship by WOW 2025/26 continues today, Tuesday 18 November, with the last two of the six online preliminary round matches in the second showdown. Starting at 18:00 CET, Bayer 04 face Karlsruher SC, followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach at 19:00 CET. The games will be streamed live on the Bayer 04 app and on the club Twitch channel. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
Just 11 days after their last encounter in the Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Women meet Hamburger SV again. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the two teams will be battling it out at the Volksparkstadion for a place in the DFB Cup quarter-finals. Coach Roberto Pätzold is aware of his team's status as favourites against the promoted outfit - and knows what it will come down to against the awkward opponents.
Show more
Bayer 04 Women goalkeeper Charlotte Voll has been hit by injury again. The 26-year-old suffered an acromioclavicular joint separation in her left shoulder in the latter stages of the Bundesliga match at SC Freiburg on Monday and is set to be sidelined for a number of months. She underwent successful surgery in Düsseldorf on Friday.
Show more
Like they did in the first showdown of the VBL Club Championship by WOW, which the Leverkusen gamers won in spectacular style, Marc and Sean Landwehr also started the second showdown with six points by beating TSG Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum 1848, last-16 participants of the first showdown. The #B04eSports team suffered defeat to SV Darmstadt 98 and Hertha BSC. Meanwhile, Keanu Senkbeil made his VBL CC debut in the clash with the capital club.
Show more
