The Berliner Morgenpost believes the Werkself were "distracted and careless from the start and their approach provided unexpected help for the neighbours." And the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger was surprised by the Bayer 04 display in the 62nd Bundesliga derby and added: "It was bewildering how readily Heiko Herrlich's team, without Lars Bender (injured) and Kevin Volland (birth of his daughter), fell into all the traps almost voluntarily after a run of ten away games without defeat. Poor passes, pointless dribbling and weak challenges led to losing possession and FC Köln counter-attacks that put the Werkself under constant pressure. The rest was down to individual errors." The Frankfurter Allgemeine reports: "In all aspects of the game – breaking moves down, tackling and challenging, one-on-ones, the will to win– the relegation-threatened big club were superior to their neighbours positioned much higher up the table."
According to the report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, "the favourites from the other side of the Rhine played more or less as coach Heiko Herrlich had feared in public when he provided his preview of the derby, specifically warning against FC Köln's quality. In spite of that, his team demonstrated inexplicable lethargy against their opponents with the highly talented forward line of Kai Havertz, Leon Bailey and Julian Brandt leading the way.".The Rheinische Post adopted a similar view with the reporter focusing on the importance of attitude in football that Heiko Herrlich often talks about and the game was summed up under the headline 'Köln's mentality beats Bayer's quality.'
The Tagesspiegel writes that the Bayer 04 game did liven up with the introduction of Joel Pohjanpalo at the start of the second half, "but, other than good chances for Julian Brandt and Sven Bender, there wasn't much doing. The result was settled by Simon Zoller when he exploited a mistake by Charles Aranguiz to easily make it 2-0." That means Bayer 04 have missed "the chance to improve their position in terms of the four Champions League spots. The team under coach Heiko Herrlich remain in fifth place." (Ruhr Nachrichten)
In addition to the many unusual defects in the Werkself game, the press focus on the red card shown to Lucas Alario (33') – the Kölnische Rundschau identified the violent conduct of the Werkself's Argentinian striker as the "crucial moment in Leverkusen's game," as he "made it more difficult for his team to get back into the game." (Frankfurter Allgemeine) – "The Bayer coach Heiko Herrlich had warned his players before the derby and pointed out they had to keep control of their nerves in spite of the emotion of the game." (Kölnische Rundschau)
The Kicker highlights an unenviable statistic in this respect: "For the fourth time this season after the matches against Leipzig, Dortmund and Schalke. Bayer, with 35 red cards before half-time the holders of an unenviable Bundesliga record, only picked up two points in those four games."
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-1 at TSG Hoffenheim on the 3rd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
Show more
Starting with the 2026/27 season, Bayer 04 has created a permanent memorial space at the BayArena. In the upper section of Block A in the southeast corner of the stadium, Werkself fans can honour friends and family members with whom they have shared many special moments connected to Bayer 04. In the coming months, this space will be gradually expanded, in particular with the active support of the fans.
Show more
Bayer 04 has secured a new premium partner in DXC Technology, a leading provider of enterprise technology and innovation. The club has agreed a partnership with DXC running until 30 June 2028. At the heart of the partnership is DXC’s role as an AI integration partner. The company is integrating Bayer 04’s previously separate digital systems into a unified fan journey that begins long before matchday and extends well beyond the stadium visit. As a partner of the women’s team and main sponsor of #B04eSports, DXC will be supporting two promising sections of the club during this period. DXC will also gain significant visibility as the sleeve partner of the women’s team in the DFB Pokal.
Show more
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have secured a new premium partner in the form of DRIVIO. DRIVIO, already part of the club’s partner portfolio as a reliable car subscription partner for Bayer 04, will continue to support the club in this capacity and, with immediate effect, also join the premium group of companies that cooperate closely with the Werkself. The premium and car subscription partnership between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and DRIVIO will initially run until 30 June 2027.
Show more
“Welcome home” was the message from a visually emotional fan in the direction of Moussa Diaby after Wednesday’s open training session. The French winger had just appeared on the BayArena training ground for the first time in three years following his return to Bayer 04. And before he took time for selfies and autographs, Diaby spoke to the media. Fellow new arrival Guéla Doué was also in action but not with the team for now.
Show more
