Central defender Jonathan Tah was forthright at the pre-match press conference. The 25-year-old: “There’s no more ifs and maybes – we have to win and go through. That’s our clear target.”
To get there requires the team to be “focussed and aggressive” from the start. There should not be other initial phase as in the first leg: The Werkself were 2-0 down after 19 minutes and at half-time it was 3-0 to the hosts.
While Tah will again be in the line-up for the second game against Young Boys, Sven Bender is not in the squad. The experienced defender made his comeback on Sunday in the 1-1 draw at Augsburg after three months out due to injury and is set be gradually reintroduced with a busy period of fixtures coming up. Nadiem Amiri, who missed the game against FCA due to an infection, is fit again and could be an option against Young Boys. With the winger Karim Bellarabi (muscle injury), Bosz took a similar position, “we’ll see if he’s ready for the squad.”
Ahead of the knockout match at the BayArena, the Werkself head coach talked about the significance of the game against the Swiss club for Bayer 04. The 57-year-old: “The game is very important to us, we definitely want to go through to the next round. Our task is clear: to win.”
Match information:
Broadcasters: DAZN, RTL Nitro and Werks11 Radio
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)
Bayer 04 will round off their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with a friendly against Premier League side Newcastle United. The match against the side featuring German internationals Malik Thiaw and Nick Woltemade will take place on Saturday 15 August (kick-off: 4 pm German time/3 pm local time) at St James’ Park. Werkself-TV will stream the match live in full and free of charge after logging in from 3.50 pm...
After the 2-1 defeat at Premier League club Nottingham Forest the night before, it was straight back to work for the Werkself at midday on Thursday with an intensive training session in hot temperatures at the hosts' training ground.
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The Werkself suffered a first defeat in the current pre-season fixtures. The sixth friendly of the summer ended in 2-1 reverse at Premier League Nottingham Forest. The English side took an early lead (4’) but Patrik Schick levelled just after the half-hour mark (32’). Nothing much happened after that, and the match looked set to end in a draw. However, the hosts managed to score the winning goal late on (90').
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have loaned U19 midfielder Jeremiah Mensah to Dutch second-tier side Roda JC Kerkrade for one year. The 18-year-old Germany youth international has a long-term contract at the club to 2031.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH has taken note of the final, non-binding statement issued by the Bundeskartellamt regarding the 50+1 rule and its application, and will now examine it carefully.
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