The Kölnische Rundschau reports a "huge step" in the direction of the next round and assesses the clash with Be’er Sheva as "one-sided" in favour of the Werkself. Furthermore: "Leverkusen took hold of the reins and forced their game on the defensive Israelis."
The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reports a "job done." The 90 minutes at the BayArena were "chilly and tough.". The performances of the captain Jonathan Tah and starting eleven returnee Patrik Schick were rated 2.5, Leon Bailey was able to enjoy getting a 2 – the best assessment of the night.
The headline in the Bild Zeitung reads: "Bayer almost through", the Round of 32 "as good as achieved." Looking at the goal scored by Schick, who has been sidelined for several weeks due to injury, the tabloid opts for these words: "All is SCHICK in the Europa League too!"
The Werkself goals? Comments include "beautifully worked," a "great free kick" – and "a goal for Diego.” After coming on as a substitute, Lucas Alario rounded off the scoring at 4-1. Before kick-off, the centre forward warmed up in a top with a number 10 and the name Maradona on it in memory of the Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 60.
The Rheinische Post starts its reporting with a look at the Black and Red injury list. "Even without seven first-team players, the team under coach Peter Bosz cleared the hurdle without any problems." The Werkself now have "one foot in the Round of 32." The newspaper uses the adjectives "easy", "commanding", "dominant" and "one-sided" to describe the third win in the fourth group match for Bayer 04.
After their first win on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase, Olympiacos are still in with a good chance of reaching the play-offs in the UEFA Champions League. The 2024 UEFA Conference League winners will be looking to go one better in their home match against Bayer 04 this Tuesday, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), but their stop scorer is unavailable. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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