Only Sana Coskun, Caroline Kehrer, Emily Wallrabenstein (all knocks) and Amy Wrigge (cruciate ligament) were absent from the squad for the final pre-season match. It took the Werkself just eight minutes to open the scoring at the SL16 Football Campus in Liège, Sofie Zdebel teeing up Bender, who found the corner from the edge of the box. Three minutes later, the post Vanessa Fudalla the second goal. It soon arrived with the next move, though, as Kramer - who scored a hat-trick in the 7-0 win in the last friendly at Feyenoord - flicked Bender's corner into the net to make it 2-0 after 12 minutes.
Kramer and Marlene Müller both went close to making it three before the end of the first quarter. After the first short break, the Bundesliga team continued to dominate and eventually got their reward in the 50th minute. In an almost carbon copy of the second goal, Kramer headed in from Bender's corner. The 3-0 scoreline at half-time was a fair reflection of the contest up to this point.
The first opening of the third quarter also came from a corner, as Selina Ostermeier's header was saved by the Standard goalkeeper. Moments later, Ruby Grant rose highest to score the third set-piece goal of the day for the Werkself. Pätzold's side didn't relent and Lobke Loonen was denied at close range five minutes later. At the other end, substitute Charlotte Voll, like Rafaela Borggräfe, had little to do in the Leverkusen goal.
In the final quarter of the match, the team who finished fourth in the Belgian Super League last season did show more attacking intent, but the goals continued to come from Leverkusen. Goal number five was also the fourth from a set piece: this time Turanyi headed Natasha Kowalski's free kick into the net on 96 minutes. Just a minute later, Mädl pounced on a mistake by the Liège keeper and tapped in to make it 6-0. And the Austrian became the third brace scorer of the day three minutes later from another Kowalski assist.
The new Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga season starts for the Werkself with an away fixture at RB Leipzig on Sunday 23 August (16:00 CEST). The first home match follows exactly a week later on Sunday 30 August, with last season's runners-up VfL Wolfsburg the visitors to the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion.
Match stats:
Standard Lüttich starting line-up: Gautier - Humartus, Sleebe, Prez, Blave, Pauwels, Poluhovica, van Belle, Tchidjo, Snaps, Mejdoubi
Bayer 04, 1st half: Borggräfe - Müller, Wenger, Ostermeier, Simon - Zdebel, Wamser - Fudalla, Bender - Kramer, Sternad
Bayer 04, 2nd half: Voll - Merino Gonzalez (Grant 91'), Turanyi, Ostermeier (Friedrich 76'), Simon (Brandau 76') - Wamser (Misini 76'), Platner - Grant (Kowalski 76'), Tomasiak - Mädl, Loonen
Goals: 0-1 Bender (8'), 0-2 Kramer (12'), 0-3 Kramer (50'), 0-4 Turanyi (70'), 0-5 Turanyi (96'), 0-6 Mädl (97'), 0-7 Mädl (100')
Attendance: 175 at the SL16 Football Campus in Liège
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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