Bayer 04 Women make flying start to beat Leipzig

“The game reflected how the season has gone. We had big intentions after weeks without a win, playing with high tempo, being clinical and scoring great goals. But Leipzig were always dangerous and also had their chances. We sharpened our senses again at half-time and held off the opposition,” said coach Roberto Pätzold after full-time. The coach was also pleased with his side’s reaction to conceding twice: “We had some more huge opportunities to make the result clearer. Also the substitutions helped us with stability and allowed us to see out the game with passion and mental strength.”

Pätzold made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 against Essen a fortnight ago. Captain Friederike Repohl returned in goal after six games out injured in place of Anne Moll, while Juliette Vidal started at left-back for Julia Mickenhagen.

Dream start

Leverkusen immediately set about banishing their demons of three straight defeats, taking the lead inside two minutes. Kristin Kögel’s delivery into the middle could only be parried by Leipzig goalkeeper Elvira Herzog, with Bender on hand to open the scoring. The Werkself had a second moments later when Bender fed full-back Merino Gonzalez to finish from inside the box. And when Bender was fouled inside the area by Marlene Müller, Fudalla stepped up to convert the penalty and make it 3-0 with her division-leading eighth goal of the season after only 17 minutes.

Although Leipzig started to find their feet in the game, Bayer 04 continued to look the most likely going forward. Fudalla fired an effort over the bar before ex-Leverkusener Delice Boboy also missed the target at the other end. Merino Gonzalez was denied a second by Herzog and then did find the net again, but it was ruled out for a foul as it remained 3-0 to the home side.

Leipzig hit back

Vidal had the first attempt of the second period but only struck the side netting. However, Leipzig got back into the game when Müller beat Repohl to a long ball and was able to slot into an empty net just before the hour. They were then back within one when Emilia Asgeirsdottir took advantage of the Werkself’s inability to clear their lines.

Leverkusen soon recovered from that double shock and set about shoring things up. Cornelia Kramer, who was the club’s top scorer last season with 12 goals, came on in the closing stages for her first appearance in several months following an injury and helped the Werkself see out the result.

Away at Bremen, Bayern at home

Bayer 04 Women are next in action away at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Friday (18:30 CET). They then close out 2025 with a home game against champions Bayern Munich on Monday, 22 December (18:00).

Highlights:

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Repohl - Merino Gonzalez, Ostermeier, Turanyi, Vidal - Zdebel, Piljic (Grant 61') - Bender (Mickenhagen 60'+5), Kögel (Mädl 61') - Kehrer (Kramer 80'), Fudalla (Friedrich 80')

Leipzig: Herzog - Krug (Spitzner 88'), Norheim, Magerl, Dudek - Schasching - Baum, Chmielinski, Müller - Asgeirsdottir (Oteng 65'), Boboy

Goals: 1-0 Bender (2'), 2-0 Merino Gonzalez (9'), 3-0 Fudalla (17', pen.), 3-1 Müller (56'), 3-2 Asgeirsdottir (60')

Yellow cards: Bender, Fudalla - Krug

Referee: Julia Boike

Attendance: 516 at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion