The result was settled by an early goal from Germany international Lena Lotzen. It was one of the few points in the game where the holders posed problems for the Bayer 04 Women at the Grünwalder Straße Stadium. Bayern, still on course for a semi-final spot in the Champions League, had more of the possession and looked to be on top but were unable to press home that advantage by posing additional threats to the Bayer 04 goal with Anna Klink on form between the posts. The Werkself goalkeeper had to make two last-ditch clearances against Lotzen on both occasions.
At the other end, Leverkusen played as planned on the break but were unable to find the back of the net. The best opportunity came when the captain Ramona Petzelberger set up Turid Knaak but she put her shot just over the Munich target. Even though his team left empty-handed against the clear favourites the coach was able to gain some positives from his players' performance. "The girls were really great. They all fought for each other and we played as a solid unit. We definitely have to take that into the next games," said Malte Dresen who remained hopeful of gaining a result right up to the closing minutes after Bayern were reduced to ten players following the dismissal of Leonie Maier on 88 minutes and they had to battle to keep out Bayer 04.
Duisburg on Sunday
The situation in the table has not changed for Leverkusen as both Duisburg and Jena lost at the weekend. The next match will clearly have a significant influence on the future situation in Bayer 04's battle to avoid relegation: MSV Duisburg, with a four-point lead, are the visitors on Sunday (kick-off 14.00 CET at Kurtekotten) and the Werkself women definitely need to win that game. That should be possible given the performance against Bayern.
Match stats:
FC Bayern Munich: Zinsberger – Maier, Abbé, Wenninger, Behringer (Romert 60’), Bürki, Lotzen, Evans, Schnaderbeck, Miedema (Brecht 74’), Slipcevic (Däbritz 83’)
Bayer 04: Klink – Kempe, Barth, Krahn, Wich, Petzelberger, R. Knaak, Rinast, Csiszar (Dunst 70’), Schwab (Widak 80’), T. Knaak
Goals: 1-0 Lotzen (10’)
Referee: Christine Weigelt (Leipzig)
Booked: Miedema
Sent off: Maier (88’)
Attendance: 382
The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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