The Bayer Leverkusen Post
Match26 Aug 2028
Nowhere to hide for Bayer Leverkusen
0‑4 against RB Leipzig, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Exequiel Palacios in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bayer Leverkusen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market28 Aug 2028
Thomas Stein is a Bayer Leverkusen player again
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market28 Aug 2028
As if he never left: Hans Meier returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Hans Meier is a Bayer Leverkusen player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market28 Aug 2028
Alexander Lange is a Bayer Leverkusen player again
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market28 Aug 2028
Marc Günther comes home
The shirt still fits. Marc Günther is back at Bayer Leverkusen, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad28 Aug 2028
No hiding place for Ibrahim Maza
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibrahim Maza, and the manager let it.
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
The ground is getting bigger
The plans are signed off at a capacity of 47722. Decisions like this are judged twenty years later, by people who were not in the room when they were taken.
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
A promise the Bayer Leverkusen board did not keep
There was a commitment, there was a date, and the date went past. Trust at a football club takes years to build and one afternoon to spend.
In brief
- Player ratings Nobody could get near Malik Tillman
- Boardroom Doors closed at Bayer Leverkusen
- Squad Costly mistake from Mark Flekken