With five changes to the starting line-up from the 1-0 defeat against FC Köln, the Werkself warmed up in T-shirts bearing the names and numbers of the injured Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong – and then they started well in the game. In front of 19,871 spectators at the BayArena, Moussa Diaby had the first big chance on eight minutes but he shot straight at the keeper. Atalanta, whose captain Rafael Toloi went off injured after ten minutes, were compact in defence and they launched attacks again and again. An intensive first half ended goalless.
In the second half, Diaby had another massive chance but his solo run ended with the Atalanta keeper Juan Musso making a save with his leg (48'). Head coach Gerardo Seoane made three changes on the hour mark as he bolstered the attack. However, the crucial goal did not come even with the new players on the pitch – in contrast to the opponents: Jeremy Boga scored the only goal of the game in added time to knock out the Werkself at the Round of 16 stage. HERE is the match report…
"We did better than in the first leg," said a downbeat Jonathan Tah after the final whistle. Nevertheless, in response to going out he was "very disappointed. We weren't clinical enough overall. We could have done better. In the end we just couldn't get the goal." Robert Andrich took a similar position: "We are really angry with ourselves! We have to admit that we just couldn't get the goal at the crucial moments."
Gerardo Seoane did congratulate the visitors from Bergamo. The Swiss coach added: "We played well for large parts of the game today. From a solid defence we produced enough of a threat in transition to score a goal. At the end of the day, the poor 40 minutes in Bergamo were the reason for us going out in the Round of 16 and that we weren't effective enough today.”
Central defender Jonathan Tah would obviously have wished for a different result on his special day. Nevertheless, the impressive landmark of the 26-year-old deserves to be mentioned. The duel with Atalanta was match number 250 for our number four since his transfer from Hamburg SV in the summer of 2015. Here's to many more, Jona!
The other good news was that Robert Andrich and Karim Bellarabi returned from injury to make their comebacks with the first team. Both had been sidelined through injury for several weeks and came on last night after 61 minutes along with winter signing Sardar Azmoun.
The match stats slightly favour the Werkself: The Seoane team had two thirds of possession and their pass completion of 80% was better than that of the North Italian side (72%) and there were also three more shots at goal. The visitors only came out on top in terms of challenges with a rate of 53%.
The Rheinische Post reports the events at the start of the match as follows: "After the two teams thrilled the spectators with numerous attacking moves in the first meeting, the return leg was more tactical." The Frankfurter Rundschau headline reads "Better but not good enough." The best assessments in the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger on the Werkself side were for Piero Hincapie and Mitchel Bakker – both with 2.5, and the latter was awarded a mark of 2 in the Bild.
The Werkself have one game left in March – and that is another worth watching. Sunday 20 March brings a Bundesliga away game at a revitalised VfL Wolfsburg. The kick-off at the Volkswagen Arena is at 17.30 CET. Then comes the international break followed by the game against Hertha Berlin at the BayArena on 2 April.
Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
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It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
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He’s done it: Patrik Schick also found the back of the net in Bayer 04’s 2–1 win over SC Freiburg on Matchday six of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season – a club record! In what was a high-quality match from the word go, the Werkself were briefly rattled by the visitors’ opener from Derry Scherhant in the 14th minute but fought back with an equaliser from Ibrahim Maza just six minutes later. In the second half, the Black and Reds took control on their home turf and secured a well-earned win through record-holder Schick. In doing do, the Werkself inflicted the first defeat of the season on the club from the Black Forest.
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It was a match that will live long in the memory of everyone involved: The Bayer 04 U19s celebrated their seventh win in seven matches in the DFB Youth League preliminary round – and yet it was a very special victory indeed: in the 4–3 (1–1) win at VfL Bochum 1848, no fewer than five goals came in the final quarter of an hour. As the 90th minute approached, coach Patrick Greveraars’s side found themselves behind, but then fought back in true ‘Laterkusen’ style.
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Under Carles Martínez, the Werkself have so far proved unbeatable at the BayArena. The Spaniard has led his team to victory in all three of their most recent home matches – and, it's worth noting, without conceding a single goal. On Sunday, 18 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST / live on DAZN and Werkself Radio), current league leaders SC Freiburg will make the trip to Leverkusen, but will be without their top scorer. What's more, the Werkself have won all three of their previous home matches against the Black Forest club. With a goal, Patrik Schick could not only secure a fourth consecutive victory but also set a memorable record. Meanwhile, on what will be the ‘Health Day' at the BayArena, much of the focus will be on physical wellbeing. Today's matchday news.
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