Head coach Kevin Brok made three changes to his starting XI compared to the 5-0 defeat at Benfica three weeks earlier: Instead of Naba Mensah (senior side), Nils Gernhardt (bench) and Marton Szep (ill), U17 World Cup returnees Nebe Domnic and Osman Turay as well as U17s player Elia Datené were handed starts. In addition to Mensah, Ferdinand Pohl, Ben Hawighorst, Montrell Culbreath and Jeremiah Mensah were also part of the Champions League squad for the evening's clash so were unavailable. The hosts went into the game trailing Bayer 04 by a point following wins against Napoli and Monaco and defeats against Villarreal and Dortmund.
The Blues dominated from the start and had their first chance at the Manchester City Academy Stadium after two minutes through Reigan Heskey - son of former Liverpool star Emile Heskey - but keeper and captain Jesper Schlich pulled off an excellent save. City's Mahamadou Sangare had the best chance of the opening period when he hit the crossbar on 11 minutes. At the other end, Turay had two attempts (8', 17'). As the game progressed, the Werkself gradually found their way into the game and also got forward more, mostly through counter-attacks. Jonah Berghoff had the next attempt with a header following a corner kick (18). The action then moved back into Leverkusen's half without City creating any goal threat worth mentioning. As Heskey could 'only' hit the post three minutes before the break, the teams went into the tunnel at half-time with the score at 0-0.
The second half then got off to the worst possible start for Bayer 04: Noah Probst caught City's Kian Noble in his own penalty area as he attempted to clear the ball, and Heskey easily converted the subsequent spot-kick to give the home side a 1-0 lead (49'). At that point, the Werkself once again had keeper Schlich to thank for the fact that they'd conceded just the one goal. However, the stopper was left helpless when Divine Mukasa made it 2-0 with a powerful long-range effort (57'). The game now clearly turned in City's favour, who scored three more goals within six minutes: Christian McFarlane (64'), Mukasa (67') and substitute Floyd Samba (70') made it 5-0, with Mukasa again scoring the final goal from the penalty spot (85').
"Of course, the game didn't turn out the way we wanted it to," stressed Brok afterwards. "In the first half, we also created some occasional attacking opportunities ourselves. After the break, it was annoying to concede the early goal from a penalty. After that, they played to their strengths and we were no longer able to physically stand up to them with our younger team. The result hurts today, but tomorrow we'll start recovering and preparing for the final matches in the league and the Youth League, where we want to achieve the maximum."
The Leverkusen U19s continue with the penultimate matchday of the preliminary round in the DFB Youth League. On Sunday, 30 November (kick-off: 12:00 CET), TSV Schott Mainz will be the visitors to the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. This will be followed by the final preliminary round clash at FSV Frankfurt on Saturday, 6 December, at 13:00 CET. The final match of the season will be the UEFA Youth League home game against Newcastle United. Kick-off is on Wednesday, 10 December, at 14:00 CET at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion.
Highlights:
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The stats:
Manchester City: Brits - Nfonkeu, Noble, Mfuni, McFarlane (71' Braithwaite) - Gray (77' Miles), Fapetu (57' Samba), Mukasa - McAidoo, Sangare (77' Warhurst), R. Heskey (77' Dunbar-McDonald)
Bayer 04: Schlich - Kurowski (72' Papadakis), Domnic, Probst, Kir (86' Wrobel), Turay (72' Gernhardt) - Datené, Djedovic - Massek (72' Chigozie Owen), Berghoff - Izekor (72' Ermec)
Goals: 1-0 R. Heskey (49'/pen), 2-0 Mukasa (57'), 3-0 McFarlane (64'), 4-0 Mukasa (67'), 5-0 Samba (70'), 6-0 Mukasa (85'/pen)
Yellow cards: Fapetu - Datené, Berghoff
Referee: Mathieu Vernice (Frankreich)
Spectators: 640 at Manchester City Academy Stadium
After eight years in the youth set-up at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Benjamin Adam is leaving the club. The 35-year-old, who most recently coached the Leverkusen U17s, will take charge of the Hansa Rostock U19 team next season.
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There was a successful end to the women's internationals with Werkself players Carlotta Wamser and Cornelia Kramer qualifying for the 2027 World Cup finals in Brazil. A third Leverkusen player is still in with a chance of joining them. The Germany U23 players also experienced success in their last two international friendlies of the season.
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Traveling to North America for the World Cup this summer to see your favorite Bayer 04 players? Here’s a quick cheat sheet with thumbnail portraits and insider tips for each city from a local expert, so you can make the most of your visit and activities beyond the game!
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A fresh look for the BayArena: The Bayer 04 stadium will have new seating in the form of folding seats for the 2026/27 campaign that will ensure significantly improved seating comfort and simplified movement within the rows of seats. As part of routine replacement after 17 years, fans of the Werkself were able to purchase the existing seats, used to witness the first German league title in the club's history. In addition, a large proportion of the seats will be donated to charitable projects, primarily in the local region. Bayer 04 fans can look forward to new, functional folding seats for the season opener at the beginning of August - still in the club colours of black and red, of course. A glimpse at the BayArena during the refurbishment.
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