Double strike decides friendly: Bayer 04 Women lose to FC Nürnberg

"Even though we were missing lots of players, we had some who were able to clock up valuable minutes," said Pätzold: "I'm really pleased for Vanessa Haim that she was able to play for so long after such an extended lay-off and scored again, Charlotte Voll also made her comeback and Shen Menglu played 45 minutes again for the first time. A lot of young players also had the opportunity to hold their own against Bundesliga players." In his view, the victory for FCN was justifiable. "Nürnberg were a big challenge for us today, both physically and in terms of football. The game was characterised by a lot of duels and we conceded a few transition situations through mistakes, but we also made some good moves ourselves," said Pätzold: "The result is okay because Nürnberg had more big chances. For us, the main thing is we're delighted with our returning players and the match practice we were able to give them."

A total of 16 players from the first team squad were not part of the friendly line-up: national team players Cornelia Kramer (Denmark), Carlotta Wamser (Germany), Claudia Wenger (Austria) Loreen Bender, Estrella Merino Gonzalez, Selina Ostermeier, Katharina Piljic, Sofie Zdebel (all Germany U23s), as well as the injured Melissa Friedrich, Caroline Kehrer, Valentina Mädl, Anne Moll, Friederike Repohl, Louisa Remien, Juliette Vidal and Amy Wrigge. The U23 players Emilia Eltgen, Jolina Heltemes, Jana Lindner, Angelie Martens, Linda Pfeiffer, Chayenne Schwarz, Alisa Sinani and Amelie Sosnik completed the squad with Heltemes and Lindner on from the start.

Borggräfe keeps Leverkusen in the game

After a cautious opening phase, the first big chance of the match fell to FC Nürnberg. Natassja Lein was unmarked in front of Rafaela Borggräfe and lobbed the ball onto the bar (12'). Four minutes later, the Leverkusen keeper was on hand to save another shot by the striker from a tight angle. The ensuing counter-attack saw Vanessa Haim have the first effort on goal for the Bayer 04 Women. Her powerful shot was turned away for a corner by FCN goalkeeper Lourdes Romero. However, the team in eleventh place in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga continued to create the majority of the chances. In the next one-on-one duel between Lein and Borggräfe, the Werkself keeper once again came out on top (21’). Both teams then took it a little easier in front of goal. The next attacking move again came from the Black and Reds, but the shot from Julia Mickenhagen missed the target (34'). Three minutes later, Borggräfe's clearance in the penalty area hit a Nürnberg player and rebounded onto the crossbar. Leverkusen went into half-time with the score at 0-0, which was flattering from a Leverkusen perspective.

Pätzold made four changes at the break, with goalkeeper Voll making her comeback more than five months after suffering a shoulder injury alongside the trio of youngsters Pfeiffer, Schwarz and Sosnik. Ten minutes after the restart, Haim finally put the Werkself ahead. Following a corner that FCN failed to clear, the striker was in the perfect position to score against her former club to make it 1-0 (56'). But the lead did not last long. Almost immediately, Sanja Homann capitalised on a mistake by Voll and flicked the ball over the goalkeeper into the net to level at 1-1. Just one minute later, Lara Meroni kept her cool in front of goal and turned the game round for FC Nürnberg .

Pätzold's team tried to respond, but it took until the 68th minute before substitute Schwarz had the next effort with a volley. Shortly after that, Vanessa Fudalla failed to beat Romero from the left of goal, while Voll prevented FCN going 3-1 up at the other end in a one-on-one. Schwarz tried again from distance three minutes before the final whistle but missed the last chance to level.

next up: Home game against SC Freiburg 

27 days after the last competitive match, the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga resumes on Sunday, 26 April. The Werkself host SC Freiburg on matchday 23. The game at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium kicks off at 16:00 CEST, tickets are available HERE from the Bayer 04 online shop.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Borggräfe (Voll 46’) - Schwartze (74. Eltgen 74’), Heltemes (Sosnik 46’), Turanyi, Mickenhagen (Martens 74’) - Lindner (Schwarz 46’), Daedelow (Grant 74’) - Menglu (Pfeiffer 46’), Kögel - Haim (Sinani 74’), Fudalla

FC Nürnberg starting XI: Romero - Mai, Fördös, Varley, Pollak - Guttenberger, Seguin - Homann, Günster, Meroni - Lein

Goals: 1-0 Haim (56'), 1-1 Homann (57'), 1-2 Meroni (58')

Referee: Carolin Lotz (Marburg)

Attendance: 83 at the TSV Wörsdorf sports ground in Idstein