Bayer Leverkusen missed the opportunity to close the gap for Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich after a 2-0 defeat at home with Werder Bremen on Saturday.
2024/2025 Bundesliga
0-2
- Romano Schmid (7 ')
- Justin Njinmah (90 '+4')
Match report
The defensive champions of last season remain eight points behind the leaders, who were also defeated at home with VFL Bochum at home on an intriguing day in the German top flight.
Werder Bremen had lost their previous five games on the spider before they traveled to Leverkusen, but took a surprising lead in the seventh minute when Romano Schmid of a defensive error from the hosts to Slot Home.
Aleix Garcia came closest to an equalizer in the first half when his free kick bounced in a stop time of the bar.
But it went from bad to worse for Xabi Alonso's side in the second half when Florian Wirtz picked up a single injury for nine minutes in the second half and had to get off.
Although he was pressed on an equalizer, the breakthrough never came for the home team in a frustrating meeting. It would be even worse for them in the 94th minute, when Justin Njinmah reached the score at 2-0 and sealed the victory for the visitors.
The result raises Werder Bremen to the 12th in the table at 33 points, 13 above the relegation play-off place.
For Levekusen, they now organize Bayern Munich in the Champions League Last-16 afterwards while trying to destroy a shortage of three goals from the first stage.
3 -FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer 04 Leverkusen all lost for the first time since MD20 in 2006-07 on the same Bundesliga competition day. Surprising.
– Optafranz (@Optafranz) March 8, 2025
Data Debrief: Leverkusen Pluis lines
The defeat for Leverkusen, in combination with losses for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, means that it was the first time that all three since the 2006-07 season have been lost on the same day of the competition.
While Leverkusen showed 18 shots on goal during the match, there were only four on goal and they only created opportunities worth 1.41 XG.
In the meantime, Werder Bremen generated an XG of 1.23 during the game, which suggests that it was not so much a smash-and-grab performance if they had expected.
Match -Events
0 'The game is about to start!
7 'goal! Leverkusen 0-1 Bremen (Romano Schmid)
17 'Highlight of Leverkusen vs Bremen
26 'Match event for Leverkusen vs Bremen
28 'Match event for Leverkusen vs Bremen
30 'Highlight of Leverkusen vs Bremen
45 'Match event for Leverkusen vs Bremen
46 'Highlight of Leverkusen vs Bremen
56 'Highlight of Leverkusen vs Bremen
65 'Match event for Leverkusen vs Bremen
71 'Highlight of Leverkusen vs Bremen
74 'Highlight of Leverkusen vs Bremen
93 'Highlight of Leverkusen vs Bremen
Line-ups
Leverkusen XI: Hradecky, Xhaka, Tah, Schick, Hermoso, A.GarcÃa, Buendia, Tapsoba, Tella, Adli, Arthur
Subs: Grimaldo, Mukiele, Exequel Palacios, Kovar, Jeremie Frimpong, Victor Boniface, Hincapie, Wirtz, Sarco
Bremen XI: Anthony Jung, Weiser, Andre Silva, Veljkovic, Michael Zetterer, Burke, Amos Pieper, Senne Lynen, Jens Stage, Romano Schmid, Felix Agu
Subs: Bittencourt, Marco Grüll, Derrick Köhn, Justin Njinmah, Skelly Alvero, Issa Kaboré, Julán Malatini, Keke Topp, Mio Backhaus