Bayer 04 Women finish season in fifth after defeat to Bremen

"The defeat is a pity but it doesn't derogate from a successful season with a great Rückrunde," summarised Pätzold. "We're another step further than last year, we closed the gap on third place despite several setbacks, and also gave very good accounts of ourselves in the clashes against the top teams. We can be very proud of the way we've played football."

That made the nature of the defeat even more annoying for him. "It couldn't have been a worse start with the penalty against us," said Pätzold. "Unfortunately, we again have to speak about the referee's performance after this match because there was a clear foul against us before the penalty that wasn't given, and there was a clear red card for Bremen, where we didn't even get a free kick. That changes the dynamic of the game," he continued. "The team dusted themselves down after the goal and had a period of real dominance. We kept our cool, gained possession, had some huge opportunities and hit the woodwork a number of times. The ball just didn't want to go in." As a result, it remained 1-0 at the break. "That very much suited Bremen, who hardly did anything for the game after that and played in a destructive way. Nevertheless, we still had our chances in the second half, and then concede the second goal from a set piece. After that we got a bit hectic and had to take more risks after scoring the goal."

Before the match, Bayer 04 bid farewell to seven players who are leaving the club in the summer: long-serving duo Friederike Repohl (retirement) and Kristin Kögel (RC Strasbourg) as well as Katharina Piljic (VfL Wolfsburg), Julia Mickenhagen (VfB Stuttgart), Anne Moll (VfL Bochum), Vanessa Haim and Shen Menglu (destination unknown).

Pätzold made one change from the 3-1 win at RB Leipzig as goalkeeper Repohl started in the final game of her career, replacing Rafaela Borggräfe.

early lead for werder from spot

The hosts started on the front foot, pressing high from the off, but suffered an early blow when Maja Sternad went to ground in a challenge with Estrella Merino Gonzalez in the box. Referee Angelika Söder awarded a penalty to Bremen, which forward Larissa Mühlhaus converted to give the visitors the lead after just four minutes.

Leverkusen didn't need long to absorb the shock, though. Cornelia Kramer's long-range effort was tipped onto the post by Werder goalkeeper Vanessa Fischer (16'). Just a minute later, Kögel's header from Loreen Bender's cross sailed narrowly wide of the target. The Black-and-Reds continued to press for the equaliser, Selina Ostermeier testing Fischer with a header (23') and Carlotta Wamser also being denied by the impressive Fischer with a shot from a tight angle (35').

The hosts were well on top - as reflected by 11 Leverkusen corners in the first half - with the Green-Whites hardly offering anything going forward. In first-half stoppage time, Piljic's low effort from just outside the area was saved by Fischer, before the Black-and-Reds had double bad luck as Fischer turned a header from close range onto the bar and then Sofie Zdebel also struck the woodwork from the rebound, as the equaliser just refused to fall.

bremen goal lives charmed life

It was a similar story after the break: Bayer 04 kept their foot on the pedal, while Bremen focused on defending and rarely relieved the pressure with attacks. Kramer had the first attempt o the second period, firing a shot just wide of the left post (52'). Bender then curled a magnificent shot onto the outside right post (60') as the Werkself hit the woodwork for the third time. Almost immediately after that, the visitors pounced to score the second goal from their second chance. From a Mühlhaus corner, the ball ended up in the Leverkusen net via an unfortunate deflection off Selina Ostermeier (62').

Bayer 04 Women kept battling away and Loreen Bender's effort was again turned onto the post by Fischer (70'). Three minutes later, the ball finally hit the Bremen net when Kramer turned in Fudalla's corner from a tight angle to make it 2-1. Fudalla then went close herself with a free kick from 18 metres (79'). While Leverkusen couldn't force another goal despite 18 attempts to three, Werder struck in clinical fashion again. After Repohl directed a long-distance shot onto the post, Lina Hausicke headed in the rebound to make it 3-1 (85').

one-month break

Bayer 04 Women head off for their summer break on Monday. Preparation for the new season will begin on 22 June with the first performance tests, with the first training session the following day. The 2026/27 Bundesliga campaign will start on 21 August.

Highlights:

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Repohl (Borggräfe 90'+2) - Merino Gonzalez, Wenger, Ostermeier, Wamser - Piljic (Mädl 66'), Zdebel - Bender (Mickenhagen 88'), Kögel (Grant 66') - Kramer, Fudalla (Haim 88')

SV Werder Bremen: Fischer - Gutmann (Schmidt 46'), Ulbrich, Nemeth, D'Angelo - Hausicke, Wirtz (Ernst 76') - Sternad (Alber 60'), Weiß, Desic (Petermann 60') - Mühlhaus (Arfaoui 88')

Goals: 0-1 Mühlhaus (4' pen), 0-2 Ostermeier (62' o.g.), 1-2 Kramer (73'), 1-3 Hausicke (85')

Yellow cards: Kögel, Bade (goalkeeping coach), Ostermeier / Kromp (coach), Weiß

Referee: Angelika Söder (Schwarzenbruck)

Attendance: 1,339 at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion