The Black and Reds headed south without having played a single external friendly. Ahead of the opening fixture, Feifel stressed: "We’ll only get our feedback from our pre-season in Freiburg." Reminded of his statement, the satisfied coach said after the winning the game: "The girls stood up, gave their all and were rewarded for their efforts!"
In the opening stages of the game in front of 100 selected spectators at the Möslestadion, there was no sign of the lack of match practice for the visitors. In their pre-season, Freiburg had three friendlies against Bundesliga rivals and were able to initially take control of the game on their own turf. "We found it a bit difficult at the start. Freiburg gave everything. It was to be expected that we were unable to deal with this intensity given the absence of friendlies in our pre-season," Feifel declared. His team went into half-time 1-0 down. Summer signing Lilla Turanyi was unfortunate to handle the ball in the box and Freiburg's Rebecca Knaak made no mistake from the penalty spot (45+ 1').
The Werkself Women went into half-time having conceded the goal is an unfortunate moment in the game. However, experienced members of the squad led by new captain Jessica Wich plus Feifel and his assistant coach Jacqueline Dünker appeared to find the right words. In the second half, the visitors came back into the game and took control of proceedings – which on this occasion was down to the substitutes. "They were able to significantly increase the level of our game," Feifel declared and he was able to celebrate twice late on.
Substitute Csiszar set up the other substitute Rackow on 87 minutes. The 19-year-old won the ball in the penalty area was able to put the ball away to level the scores. The provider of the assist was then able to score herself shortly after that: Juliane Wirtz squared the ball to the far post for her to net the winning goal. The final whistle came shortly after that and the Bayer 04 Women secured a winning start to the new season. "We did have a bit of luck but in the end it was thoroughly deserved," said the extremely satisfied Feifel.
Immediately after the game, the Werkself Women returned to the Rhineland on the team coach. After a night's rest, Wich and Co. have a regeneration session or light training on Monday. The Leverkusen Women then have their first home game of the new league campaign on Friday, 11 September. The match at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium – unfortunately played behind closed doors – against MSV Duisburg kicks off at 19.15 CET.
Match stats:
SC Freiburg: Nuding – Bürger (Memeti 69'), Hoffmann, Karl, Kayikci, Knaak, Minge, Müller (Sanders 78'), Starke, Steuerwald, Vojtekova
Bayer 04: Klink – Brüggemann, Jessen, Kerschowski (Wirtz 63'), Kögel (Pinther 56'), Matysik (Csiszar 63'), Rudelic, Sahlmann, Turanyi, Wich, Zeller (Rackow 82')
Goals: 1-0 Knaak (45+1’ pen.), 1-1 Rackow (87’), 1-2 Csiszar (90+1’)
Booked: Starke / Brüggemann, Sahlmann
Referee: Fabienne Michel (Gau-Odernheim)
Attendance: 100
The Bundesliga has announced the nominees for the ‘Top Goal of the Month’ award for October. Fans of the Werkself can now vote for, amongst others, Robert Andrich’s stunning volley from the match against Mainz 05 or Moussa Diaby’s curling shot into the top corner from the same fixture. Voting, exclusively on the Bundesliga app, remains open until Sunday, 8 November (23:59 CET).
Show more
Bayer 04 host Borussia Mönchengladbach at the BayArena on matchday 12 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
Show more
Bayer 04 host Eintracht Frankfurt at the BayArena on matchday 14 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
Show more
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
Show more
“As far as mentality and determination are concerned, we have nothing to reproach ourselves for,” Robert Andrich said up after the first home defeat for the Werkself this term. In terms of their play, too, the Black and Reds put in a respectable performance for long stretches of this intense and physical match, outperforming VfB Stuttgart in most areas. It was only in terms of efficiency in front of goal that the Swabians had the edge over the Werkself. Head coach Carles Martínez wants to learn from this so that, in future, they can “win this sort of match too”. The Werkself review.
Show more
