
“Bailey leads Bayer to victory,” is the headline in the Kölnische Rundschau and the newspaper goes on to describe the Jamaican’s opening goal as follows: “After just five minutes, Bailey scored the opener after a great pass from U21 international Wirtz – all appeared to be going to plan for the favourites. But then the hosts hit back through Acolatse.”
The Werkself did hit back after the brace scored by the Dutchman. The Rheinische Post presents the second Leverkusen goal as follows: “From a corner, Jedvaj powered a header in direction of Levita who did parry the ball but then had to watch as it bounced back off the head of Or Dadia into the net (39’).”
The BILD explicitly mentions the change made by Peter Bosz at half-time that led him to move Leon Bailey into the centre of the attack – and reports: “Then Bailey did a brilliant job with his head when he bravely threw himself towards a cross from Kerem Demirbay, keeper Levita rushed out and caught Bailey on the back of the neck. The double goalscorer could take it – 3-2 (75’).”
Bailey earned even more praise from the Ruhr Nachrichten. “The Jamaican was the outstanding player, scored the opening goal and the crucial third with his head playing as the central striker in spite of only being 1.78 metres tall,” reports the journal.
The scorer of the goal to make it 4-2 is also mentioned positively in many reports. Florian Wirtz “is continuing to work on breaking records,” writes the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. “Set up the first goal and made it 4-2 with an excellent shot. At the age of 17 years and 6 months, the youngest German goalscorer and provider in the Europa League,” says the newspaper about the Werkself youngster who also scored on the first matchday in the 6-2 win against Nice.
Looking at the positions in the group, the EXPRESS reports: “The Werkself took a big step in the direction of the knockout rounds and are on course to be in Europe in the New Year with six points with two games at home in the remaining three matchdays.”

The Leverkusen eSports team picked up valuable points and made up ground in the overall table with a top four finish in the offline round in Showdown 4 in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In the round of 16, Showdown 1 winners Bayer 04 defeated the unbeaten runners-up in the previous round, VfL Bochum, in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. The Landwehr cousins, themselves the current club runners-up, then beat the current club champions and Showdown 3 winners RB Leipzig. It was not until the semi-finals that they lost out to the eventual showdown winners Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Show more
Bayer 04 have agreed a loan move for U19s striker Ken Izekor to join Bundesliga 2 club Eintracht Braunschweig on loan for the rest of the 2025/26 season.
Show more
Bayer 04 have agreed a loan deal for Jeanuel Belocian to join fellow Bundesliga club Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the season. The 20-year-old defender’s contract in Leverkusen runs until 30 June 2029.
Show more
Bayer 04 have recalled Tim Oermann from his loan at Sturm Graz and will now include the centre-back in the team’s plans for the rest of the 2025/26 season. The Germany U21 international signed for the Werkself from Bochum in summer 2025 on a contract until 30 June 2029.
Show more
After qualifying for the knockout play-offs of the UEFA Champions League last week, Bayer 04 are now out to reach the next round of the DFB Pokal. Speaking ahead of Tuesday night’s quarter-final tie against St. Pauli at the BayArena (20:45 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand talked about his team’s ambitions, the chances of going all the way and options in the squad ahead of another busy period.
Show more