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
Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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The next footballing highlight is just around the corner: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the tournament, will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico and feature 48 teams for the first time. Bayer04.de has all the latest on the Werkself players called up to represent their countries.
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While the majority of the Bayer 04 Women are enjoying their summer break, nine Werkself players will be on duty for their national teams in the coming days. Three of them are competing for a place at the World Cup, while six are involved in two friendlies with the Germany U23 team.
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