
Before the match, the entire squad and the support staff were presented on the pitch at the UHS, accompanied by Fernando Carro, the Bayer 04 CEO. Before kick-off, Carro looked ahead to the season in a brief interview with stadium announcer Dominik Seibel. The 62-year-old then joined a Bayer 04 Club representative in presenting striker Vanessa Fudalla with the trophy for Player of the Season 2025/26 – as voted for by Werkself members.
After that, all attention turned to the action on the pitch. With the exception of Estrella Merino Gonzalez (workload management), Caroline Kehrer (illness) and Amy Wrigge (torn cruciate ligament), Pätzold had all his outfield players at his disposal. As in previous friendlies, the coach made substitutions at half-time. His side dominated the match from the outset. Paulina Platner had the first chance for the Werkself after just three minutes with a dangerous volley. Kramer did even better just three minutes later. The Denmark international striker nodded home a pinpoint cross from Marlene Müller into the left-hand corner – giving the Black and Reds the lead (6’). The hosts continued to dominate proceedings after that, though it took around a quarter of an hour for the next chance to arise; this time, Kramer was denied by Feyenoord keeper Claire Dinkla. Shortly after that, the 23-year-old did manage to score. Following a cross from Lobke Loonen, she skilfully flicked the ball into the net (24'). Six minutes later, Germany international Carlotta Wamser missed the chance to score the third with a shot on the turn. Kramer, however, did find the back of the net seconds before the half-time whistle following a corner from captain Carolin Simon, to complete her hat-trick.






The second half began just as the first had ended: with a goal for the Black and Reds. On her 22nd birthday, Zdebel scored to make it 4–0 (47’) following a lay-off from Valentina Mädl. Ten minutes later, following a long throgh ball from Melissa Friedrich , Zdebel set up striker Maja Sternad, who made it 5–0. After that, Leverkusen allowed last season’s third-placed team in the Dutch Vrouwen Eredivisie a little more room to play. However, the Werkself continued to create the better chances to score further goals. Kowalski made it 6–0 following a cross from Justine Brandau, who joined Bayer 04 from Feyenoord in the summer (83’), and Fudalla sealed the 7–0 victory with a long-range effort after Lumbardha Misini won the ball (86').
The sixth and final preseason friendly will take place this coming Saturday, 15 August (13:30 CEST), away at Standard Liège. A week later, things get serious: the new season of the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga kicks off for the Werkself on Sunday 23 August (16:00 CEST) with an away match at RB Leipzig.
Match stats:
Bayer 04, first half: Borggräfe – Müller, Turanyi, Ostermeier, Simon – Platner, Wamser – Bender (Grant 31’), Tomasiak – Loonen, Kramer
Bayer 04, second half: Borggräfe (Voll 64’) - Wallrabenstein, Wenger (Coskun 78’), Friedrich, Brandau - Grant (Misini 69’), Zdebel - Kowalski, Fudalla - Sternad, Mädl
Feyenoord starting XI: Dinkla – de Graaf, Schmid, Haverhoek, van der Sluijs, van Derusen, Iwasaki, Kroezen, van de Lavoir, Dellaperuta, Dostmohamed
Goals: 1–0 Kramer (6'), 2–0 Kramer (25'), 3–0 Kramer (45'), 4–0 Zdebel (47'), 5–0 Sternad (59'), 6–0 Kowalski (83'), 7–0 Fudalla (86')
Referee: Eva Kastenholz (Bornheim)
Attendance: 3,000 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium

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