
Match: With lots of pressure and awareness on the pitch, the U17s played their first home game of the season against Arminia Bielefeld and they took an early lead. The Bayer 04 youngsters won the ball in the Bielefeld half on a counter press. Can Moustfa pounced and put Ayman Aourir through and his short solo run ended with a smart shot into the left corner from 12 yards out to make it 1-0 on eight minutes.
The hosts carried on full of concentration and determination. Moustfa headed home a cross from right back Emre Aksoy from 6 yards out to make it 2-0 (19'). Less than two minutes later, Moustfa exploited a mistake in the Arminia defence and, unmarked in front of goal, place the ball into the far corner of the net to double his tally and increase the lead to 3-0 (21'). For 4-0, Moustfa was in the right place from a corner and from the rebound into the right side of the penalty area he chanced his luck and struck a shot into the far corner to round off his hat-trick within just 12 minutes (30').
In the second half, Jonah Stricker put a fine pass to Aourir and, alone in the box, he shot from 11 yards out into the top left corner to make it 5-0 (61'). Substitute Enes Yilmaz hit a smart volley from the left corner of the six-yard box from a deflected cross the final score of 6-0 (66').
Assessment: After the Bayer 04 U17s started the season with a 2-2 draw away to Fortuna Köln after having been 2-0 up, there was no mistake this time and a good performance deservedly earned the first victory of the season.
Next up: The U17s are away to FC Hennef on Saturday, 3 October. Following a break due to the uneven number of teams in the league and the international matches, the next game after that will be at the end of October against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The next home game for the team under Jan Hoepner and Thomas Zdebel is on 1 November. Borussia Dortmund, one of the top teams in the U17 Bundesliga West, are the visitors.
MATCH STATS:
Bayer 04 U17: Neutgens - Bance, Köhl, Aourir, Moustfa (Süne 67'), Ballicalioglu, Biniazz (Yilmaz 60’), Bugenhagen, Ecke (Manushev 73'), Sticker (Jaksic 73'), Aksoy (Mayer 67')
Arminia Bielefeld U17: Hahne - Frey, Ernst, Thiel, Güler (Ciobanu 72’), Keller, Dogan (Niemetz 77’), Yilmaz, Tirpan (Wozny 64’), Sikora, Mihajlovic (Kollmeier 72’)
Goals: 1-0 Aourir (8’), 2-0 Moustfa (19’), 3-0 Moustfa (21’), 4-0 Moustfa (30’), 5-0 Aourir (61’), 6-0 Yilmaz (66’)
Booked: Aksoy, Bance, Köhl / -
Referee: Felix May (Solingen)
Attendance: 100

A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Bayer 04 U19s have extended their winning run with a fifth consecutive victory on Matchday 5 of the DFB Youth League’s preliminary round. Coach Patrick Greveraars’ side secured a 3–2 (2–1) win in their match against second-placed FC Viktoria Köln, with Burak Kir and Nebe Domnic scoring for the hosts in the first half before captain Ben Hawighorst found the net after the break.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without defender Guéla Doué for the time being. The Ivory Coast international sustained a muscle injury to his right calf during the final Werkself training session yesterday ahead of the Europa League clash with Slovenian champions NK Celje.
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For the first time since reaching the final against AS Roma (2–2, first leg 2–0) in May 2024, Bayer 04 are playing another home match in the UEFA Europa League – and they will be wearing their new European kit. On Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), the BayArena will welcome Slovenian champions NK Celje, who appointed a new coach this week following a mixed start to the season. Under the slogan “40 Years Across Europe. Still Creating History.”, the Black and Reds now aim to add the next chapter to their European history, which has seen so much success in recent years. Bayer 04 fans can follow the match on free-to-air TV on RTL, as well as on Sky and Werkself Radio. The matchday news.
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European football returns to the BayArena: Bayer 04 host Slovenian champions NK Celje on matchday 1 in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. Ahead of the match on Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez and midfielder Aleix Garcia spoke at the pre-match press conference. The focus was primarily on the great anticipation surrounding the competition and the clear objectives for it – and, given the circumstances, on a last-minute change to the opposition line-up.
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