
"The Bundesliga sensation Union Berlin have again upset a top team and stormed into fourth place for at least a day," is the start of the match report in the EXPRESS.
There is a similar assessment in the Tagesspiegel. "With the 1-0 win against Leverkusen, Union secured a good result against a strong opponent at the Alte Försterei for the second time in succession," it says in the report. "After two defeats last season, Union clocked up their first win against Leverkusen at the third attempt."
"Late blow in Berlin," is the headline in the Leverkusener Anzeiger that describes the course of the game as follows: "Bayer 04 had more possession as expected but almost exclusively in areas where there was no danger. Union sat back and waited for mistakes." The Werkself only posed problems "when they were able to bring their fast wingers into play."
There is a similar analysis in the Kölnische Rundschau. "Leverkusen tried to use their greater pace in attack to find a gap in the Union defence and came close to scoring at the end of the first 45 minutes," writes the paper. "Nadiem Amiri and Kerem Demirbay (38') and Julian Baumgartlinger (41') had chances to open the scoring but missed promising opportunities."
Overall, the Rheinische Post believes Bayer 04 made "little capital" from their "large amount of possession." Particularly in midfield, it was "no easy mission" for Nadiem Amiri & Co. to "break through the tightly packed Berlin centre."
For the BILD, the game retreated into the background due to an incident involving Nadiem Amiri. "Union Berlin beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 but nobody was talking about the 90 minutes after the game," writes the tabloid – and only mentions the events on the pitch as an aside.

Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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