Not only the press had special praise for striker Lucas Alario who scored the winner against Paderborn on 25 minutes. His team-mate Aleksandar Dragovic was also rejoicing in the Mixed Zone after the win: "Lucas is an unpredictable animal in the box. He's a lion and we just need to feed him." Alario also scored last weekend in the 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen – his Werkself team-mates certainly seem to be feeding him well in terms of assists at the moment.
In addition to Alario and Dragovic, there was another Bayer 04 pro on the pitch against Paderborn who the fans last saw in a competitive match 334 days ago. Defender Panagiotis Retsos, at Leverkusen since the summer of 2017 and hit by several long-term injuries, celebrated his comeback. The 21-year-old replace the injured Lars Bender on 31 minutes and did a good job. May that continue, Panos!
Turid Knaak wore the Bayer 04 shirt for six years (2011-17). In that time, she made 102 appearances scoring 20 goals. What few people know: The striker was a winner with the Werkself women's team in 2015 in the last DFB indoor cup competition. Since the summer of 2017, the 28-year-old has been at the Flyeralarm Bundesliga club SGS Essen and on Sunday (from 18.00 CET, live on ARD) she is replacing the ARD ski expert Felix Neureuther, absent due to illness, in drawing the Round of 16 matches of the DFB Cup. She will be accompanied in the German Football Museum in Dortmund by Andreas Köpke, the Germany goalkeeping coach, and presenter Matthias Opdenhövel.
Bayer 04 failed to win in five games in October: In the group stage of the Champions League there were two defeats at Juventus (0-3) and Atletico Madrid (0-1), a 3-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt plus two draws (1-1 against Leipzig, 2-2 against Werder Bremen). The DFB Cup did bring the first win for the Werkself in this less than golden October.
The Bayer 04 pros now go into November. And the Werkself fixture list continues to bring game after game: There are six matches in 26 days with a number of exciting duels. The meeting with the league leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach is followed by the visit of Atletico Madrid to the BayArena and in form Wolfsburg and Freiburg are also opponents as are Champions League competitors Lokomotiv Moscow and then Bayern Munich.
Bayer 04 are away to Stade Brest on matchday three in the league phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign. The match against last season's third-placed side in Ligue 1 will be played at the Stade du Roudourou in Guingamp around 100 kilometres away from Brest. Kick-off is at 18.45 CEST on Wednesday, 23 October. Read on for travel tips from the Bayer 04 partner weloveholidays for Werkself fans making their way to France.
Show moreAfter seven matchdays in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga eight Leverkusen players are set to make their next appearances for their national teams. From possible debuts through to play-offs in Euro qualifiers: Bayer04.de provides an overview of the international call-ups for Werkself Women players.
Show moreTickets are now on sale for the Women’s DFB Pokal Round of 16 home game. Match tickets for the Bayer 04 Women’s team game against FFC Turbine Potsdam at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Friday, 22. November (kick-off: 18.00 CET) are available now. Here are the details.
Show moreWerkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-3 loss against FC Bayern on matchday 7 of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2024/25...
Show moreWerkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04’s 2-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 7th matchday of the 2024/25 Bundesliga campaign…
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