Every Bayer Leverkusen brief The Playbook has printed, newest first — 59 editions so far. Plus the 6 Ledger calls this paper put in print on them, graded. The Archive runs two days behind the paper.
Bayer Leverkusen won 2-1 at FC Cologne at the RheinEnergieStadion on Sunday 8 November. The win followed a 4-2 home defeat by VfB Stuttgart on 31 October. Leverkusen are fifth in the Bundesliga on 16 points after nine games, with five wins, one draw and three defeats. Leverkusen have scored 20 league goals and conceded 17. Patrik Schick has 12 goals in 15 appearances across all competitions for Leverkusen. Ibrahim Maza has four goals and four assists in 14 appearances across all competitions. Leverkusen host SC Paderborn 07 at the BayArena on Saturday 21 November, with kick-off at 9:30 am ET. The derby win is a stop, not a cure, because 17 league goals conceded this season is the number Leverkusen still have to bring down before the season can settle.
Bayer Leverkusen won 2-1 at Cologne on 8 November to stay fifth in the Bundesliga on 16 points, steadying a week that had begun badly. Before the derby they lost 1-0 at home to Marseille in the Europa League, and before that came a 4-2 league defeat at home to Stuttgart. The record after nine league games is five wins, one draw and three defeats, with 20 goals scored and 17 conceded. Patrik Schick leads the scoring with 12 goals in all competitions. Paderborn visit the BayArena on Saturday 21 November, with kickoff at 9:30 am ET. They are 13th and have scored only 8 league goals in nine games, which makes this the right kind of test for a team trying to turn one good result into a run.
Bayer Leverkusen won the Rhine derby 2-1 at Cologne on Sunday, and it stops a bad week from becoming a worse one. In date order the last five results were a 3-0 league defeat at Hoffenheim on 25 October, a 5-2 DFB-Pokal win over Nürnberg on 28 October, a 4-2 home defeat to Stuttgart on 31 October, a 1-0 Europa League home defeat to Marseille on 5 November and the win at Cologne. The victory leaves Leverkusen fifth in the Bundesliga on 16 points, two behind RB Leipzig in fourth on 18, with Patrik Schick on 11 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances across all competitions. The next fixture is at home to Paderborn at the BayArena on Saturday 21 November, kickoff 9:30 AM ET, a game that will show whether the win at Cologne was a turn.
Leverkusen have the scoring to stay in most matches and the defending to lose them. A 0-1 home defeat to Marseille in the Europa League on 5 November followed a 2-4 home defeat to VfB Stuttgart on 31 October, and a 0-3 defeat at Hoffenheim on 25 October means that three of their four latest results have been losses, the exception being a 5-2 Pokal win over Nürnberg on 28 October. They are sixth in the Bundesliga with 13 points from eight games, four wins, one draw and three defeats, and they have scored 18 and conceded 16. Patrik Schick has 11 goals and two assists. Leverkusen visit FC Cologne at the RheinEnergieStadion today, kick-off 09:30 ET, a side that is 15th with nine goals scored in eight.
Leverkusen's season has been shaped by a defence that concedes too easily, and the past week brought two more home defeats. Marseille won 1-0 at Leverkusen in the Europa League on Thursday 5 November, six days after VfB Stuttgart had won 4-2 at the BayArena in the Bundesliga, and only a 5-2 DFB-Pokal win over 1. FC Nürnberg on 28 October lifted a difficult fortnight. The two league defeats in a row, Stuttgart and a 3-0 loss at TSG Hoffenheim before it, leave the selection decision squarely at the back. Next is the Rhine derby against FC Cologne at the RheinEnergieStadion on Sunday 8 November, kicking off at 09:30 ET, against a side fourteenth in the table on nine points, four below Leverkusen, and the consequence of the result reaches straight back into the race for the places above them.
Bayer Leverkusen's attack runs through Patrik Schick to a degree that leaves little cover when the goals dry up, and Thursday showed the cost. Marseille won 1-0 in Leverkusen in the Europa League, the third defeat in four matches across competitions after a 4-2 home loss to VfB Stuttgart and a 3-0 defeat at Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, with only a 5-2 DFB-Pokal win over 1. FC Nürnberg breaking the run. Leverkusen sit sixth in the Bundesliga on 13 points from eight matches, five behind the unbeaten pair of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Schick has 11 goals in 13 appearances across competitions, seven of them in the league, second only to Werder Bremen's Niclas Füllkrug. Sunday's trip to FC Cologne, 13th on nine points, is the decision point, because a league win restores the platform and another defeat turns the slide into a pattern.
Leverkusen arrive at BayArena on Saturday carrying a role problem Patrik Schick has been solving alone — 10 goals across all three competitions to his nearest teammate's three, a concentration that leaves the attack brittle the moment he is quiet. The 5-2 home win over 1. FC Nürnberg two days ago was a useful cup result, but it does not change the shape that matters on Saturday: VfB Stuttgart, despite sitting 15th on six points from seven Bundesliga matches, have scored ten goals and conceded thirteen — a club with attacking instinct that has simply not been able to hold leads. Per Bulinews and OneFootball, Stuttgart travel to BayArena with a double injury setback already confirmed, which narrows their selection options in what is already a difficult run of form. On balance, Leverkusen win at home against Stuttgart on Saturday. The 7-point gap separating the two sides in the table is a product of opposite trajectories, and the BayArena crowd, combined with Stuttgart's injury news, tips the decision: The Playbook predicts a Leverkusen home win. This paper called the Leverkusen win over Nürnberg and it landed, 5-2; two days earlier it called the win at Hoffenheim and got it badly wrong, so this call comes with that caveat attached. The condition that will settle whether the result means anything beyond three points is whether Schick's dominance — ten to everyone else's three — is the squad's ceiling or a temporary imbalance that Ibrahim Maza, on three goals and three assists, is beginning to address.
Leverkusen enter Wednesday's DFB-Pokal tie at BayArena carrying a role problem that three points against Nürnberg will not fully solve: Patrik Schick, who accounts for nine of the club's goals across all three competitions this season against a runner-up total of three, is the attack's fixed point — and the squad behind him has thinned further. Per OneFootball, the 0-3 away loss to TSG Hoffenheim three days ago cost Leverkusen both Moussa Diaby, who suffered a thigh injury, and Loïc Badé, who took a concussion — two players from the starting shape, gone before a congestion window that runs through three fixtures in seven days. Roundtable.io reports that Janis Blaswich will start in goal tonight, a rotation decision that signals the squad is already being managed across competitions. On balance, Leverkusen win — Nürnberg are a division below and BayArena is the right fixture for a squad under injury pressure — but the selection around Schick is the tell: if Ibrahim Maza, who has contributed three goals and three assists this season, starts alongside him in the final third, the attack has its best chance of producing without stretching an already shortened group.
Three consecutive wins, eight goals scored, one conceded — Leverkusen arrive at PreZero Arena on Sunday in the kind of form that makes selection decisions feel easy, but the Viktor Boniface situation means they are not. Per Daily Post Nigeria and SABC Sport, Boniface is pushing for a January exit, and per Sporting Tribune he was left out of the Europa League squad for the trip to OFI Crete; Jonas Hofmann stepped into an expanded role in that 2-0 away win and, per The False 9, earned the highest match rating on the night. The Playbook predicts Leverkusen win in Sinsheim on Sunday. That Hofmann carries the creative weight while Patrik Schick — nine goals and two assists across all competitions this season — leads the line is a shape that has held through the congestion of three fixtures across the past nine days, including the 4-0 away win over Lech Poznan and the 2-1 home win over SC Freiburg at BayArena. Against a Hoffenheim side sitting on six points and a goal difference of minus three, and seven points below Leverkusen in the table, the underlying role — who performs Boniface's function if he leaves in January — remains the decision Sunday cannot settle.
Patrik Schick carries a weight in Leverkusen's attack that no signing has yet been made to share. The 2-1 home win over SC Freiburg at BayArena confirmed it again: Schick's equaliser in the 19th minute, assisted by Ibrahim Maza, and then his 76th-minute winner — Maza returning the favour — settled a match that Freiburg had opened by scoring through Derry Scherhant four minutes in. Schick now sits on 9 goals in 9 appearances across the Bundesliga, Europa League and DFB-Pokal this season, with the next player on Leverkusen's own list — Maza and Christian Kofane — on three apiece. That is not a depth problem for January; it is a selection dependency that travels to Pankritio Stadium on Thursday. Per FotMob, Schick eased injury concerns after the Lech Poznan win, which matters precisely because no one else in the squad is producing at anything close to his rate. The Playbook predicts Leverkusen win in Crete. Whether Schick's role as the single decisive threat is the one this squad was assembled to sustain — or the one the next recruitment window is meant to resolve — Thursday will clarify the question the 2-1 over Freiburg left open.
Ten goals scored in three matches, three conceded, and a four-goal dismantling of Lech Poznan on Thursday that this paper called correctly — Leverkusen arrive at BayArena on Sunday in the shape a squad looks when its pieces are pulling in the same direction. Per FotMob, Patrik Schick eased injury concerns after the Europa League win, which matters considerably given that his eight goals across the Bundesliga, Europa League and DFB-Pokal this season are more than double the next player on Leverkusen's own list; Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane have combined for five goals in that same window, but the load Schick carries is not a depth question — it is a dependency. OneFootball reports that Leverkusen are sweating over a Martin Terrier injury from the Poznan match, which is the one note of real consequence in an otherwise settled selection picture. The condition the next 90 minutes will test is whether that goal supply holds against a Freiburg side that arrives at BayArena unbeaten through five Bundesliga games, sitting on 13 points and three ahead of Leverkusen in the table. On balance, The Playbook predicts Leverkusen win Sunday's home fixture against Freiburg, though the three-point gap and Freiburg's clean defensive record — four conceded across five matches — make this a closer decision than the recent scoring run suggests.
Leverkusen carry a defensive role into Municipal Stadium-Poznan on Thursday that four league games have not yet resolved: they score freely but concede with the same ease, and the 4-3 away win over Mainz at MEWA ARENA confirmed both sides of that ledger simultaneously. The Playbook predicts Leverkusen win in Poznan, narrowly, with Schick on the scoresheet — but not without conceding at least once.
Robert Andrich and Patrik Schick scored within the first nine minutes against Mainz, Jarell Quansah added a third in the second half, and Moussa Diaby sealed it at 65 minutes — yet Mainz still pulled one back in stoppage time, which is the pattern worth watching. Per Yahoo Sports, Schick made history in that seven-goal thriller, and his seasonal return of six goals and one assist across the Bundesliga, Europa League and DFB-Pokal is now double the next player on Leverkusen's own list — Christian Kofane, who has three. That concentration is a selection decision, not an accident, and in the Europa League's league phase, where eight opponents in a combined table demand consistency rather than a single knockout performance, a reliance this narrow carries obvious risk if Schick is unavailable. Per Morocco World News, the manager has already signalled that Eliesse Ben Seghir must manage his body better — a public standard that doubles as a selection warning ahead of a fixture where squad depth will matter.
Thursday in Poznan is where that condition gets tested against an opponent whose standing in the Europa League phase is not known, so the margin for error is genuinely unknown. What is established is that Leverkusen have scored eight times across their last three matches and conceded five — a rate that produces wins only when the finishing end holds.
Patrik Schick carries six goals this season across the Bundesliga, Europa League and DFB-Pokal — double the next player on Leverkusen's own list — and that concentration of output is the condition Leverkusen have quietly built around entering the first European assignment of their week. The 4-3 away win over Mainz at MEWA ARENA put that dependency in vivid relief: per roundtable.io, Schick made history in the seven-goal affair, cementing himself as the decision Leverkusen's opponents are now required to plan against first. This paper called a draw at Mainz and missed, which is worth owning plainly, because the scoreline confirmed something sharper than a prediction — it confirmed that Leverkusen are willing to accept a porous shape in exchange for forward violence. Per Morocco World News, the head coach has now directed public criticism at Eliesse Ben Seghir over physical condition, a selection signal that narrows the roles available behind Schick in Thursday's Europa League league-phase fixture away at Municipal Stadium-Poznan against Lech Poznan. The condition that opened this week — one name carrying the weight of a forward line — arrives in Poland largely unchanged.
Leverkusen head to MEWA ARENA carrying a role vacancy they had not planned for. Per roundtable.io and OneFootball, Christian Kofane — three goals in six appearances across the Bundesliga, Europa League and DFB-Pokal this season — is out for the coming weeks after picking up an injury on international duty with Cameroon, and Bulinews reports the setback hands Victor Boniface a chance to re-establish himself in the XI. That is the selection pressure Saturday's trip to Mainz will immediately test: whether Boniface can absorb the output Kofane was providing, or whether the front line thins in a fixture against a side that has scored ten goals in four Bundesliga games. Mainz sit seventh on seven points with a goal difference of plus four — effectively the same table position and the same points total as Leverkusen, which makes the shape of this game a direct contest for early-season standing rather than a routine away fixture. The Playbook expects a draw, given Leverkusen's unresolved attacking role and Mainz's productive home form so far, though Patrik Schick — five goals and one assist in six appearances this season — remains the single most likely source of a decisive moment if Leverkusen are to take three points. Whether Boniface fills Kofane's role convincingly is the condition Saturday's final whistle will settle.
Leverkusen's season numbers describe a possession side that has not yet settled who finishes its moves: 61.3% of the ball and 2.50 goals per game, against 1.25 conceded. Mainz, the fixture on Saturday 10 October, arrive on the same 7 points from four, one place above Leverkusen's fifth. The Playbook expects Leverkusen to take a point or more at the MEWA ARENA, because Mainz's 17.00 tackles per game against Leverkusen's 13.75 and a 10.1-point possession gap say the visitors will hold the ball while the hosts contest it. Patrik Schick's 5 goals and 1 assist in six appearances across the Bundesliga, Europa League and DFB-Pokal carry the shape, and Miguel Gutiérrez's 1 goal and 3 assists from defence show where the width comes from. Get German Football News reports Ibrahim Maza picked up an injury on international duty, and the item does not state its severity, so his 1 goal and 2 assists are a selection decision still open before Saturday.
The cup draw has handed Leverkusen a fixture that will test a role their shape has not yet resolved — the carrying of genuine attacking threat without the wide creative presence Alejandro Grimaldo provided. Per FC Bayern, the DFB-Pokal round of 16 will pair FC Bayern Women against Leverkusen, a knockout tie that arrives at a moment when Leverkusen's deeper pattern is taking form. The 2-0 home win over RB Leipzig and the 2-0 home win over NK Celje — six goals scored across their last three matches, two conceded — suggest a group growing into its rhythm, and Patrik Schick's five goals and one assist across all competitions this season is the clearest expression of where that threat is concentrated. The decision Leverkusen's selection will face in this tie is whether the midfield roles behind Schick — Ibrahim Maza's three combined goal contributions among them — can generate enough service to match what a Bayern Women side will defend with organisation. That role between the lines, and what it produces in a one-leg knockout, is what Saturday against Mainz at MEWA ARENA will begin to answer first.
Leverkusen's 61.3% possession average through four Bundesliga matches is the cleaner number — but the goals column is where their system shows itself. Eight scored across three completed results with only two conceded, and within that, Patrik Schick's five goals and one assist across all tracked competitions confirm the striker as the terminal point of an attack that moves the ball and finds him. Miguel Gutiérrez at left back — three assists alongside his goal — is the structural engine: a defender operating as a consistent supplier into the final third. That combination, high possession with diagonal runners and a fixed striker as reference point, produced a 4-0 and a 2-0 at home. The 2-2 draw at WWK Arena is the deviation, and no data in the current packet explains whether that was positional discipline breaking down or Augsburg-specific disruption. Leverkusen travel to MEWA ARENA on Saturday averaging 17.0 tackles and 12.25 interceptions per game — the highest-pressure defensive sample in this comparison — and that verified defensive activity will face its next test when Gutiérrez's delivery lines run into a side that actively hunts the ball on current form.
Guela Doué is out, per roundtable.io, and Nathan Tella has only just returned to training after an injury layoff, per Sports247 Nigeria — the two developments that matter most before kick-off at BayArena on Sunday. The Playbook predicts Leverkusen take at least a point from this match, though narrowly: RB Leipzig arrive with nine goals scored from three Bundesliga appearances, and a goal difference of +6, against Leverkusen's +3 from the same window. Patrik Schick's four goals and one assist this season are the clearest attacking leverage Leverkusen carry into this; his output has driven the bulk of their eight scored. The gap in Leipzig's numbers — nine goals for against three conceded — describes a side converting at a rate Leverkusen have not matched, and last season's averages (Leverkusen: 2.00 scored, 1.38 conceded; Leipzig: 1.94 scored, 1.38 conceded) suggest two teams of similar defensive shape, making the Doué absence a genuine reduction in wide options. Sunday's test is whether Schick and Ibrahim Maza — three goals and three assists between them — can create enough in the final third to hold an in-form Leipzig side at BayArena.
RB Leipzig arrive at BayArena on Sunday having scored nine goals in three Bundesliga appearances this season — the attacking profile of a side that punished teams who defend open — and Leverkusen's record across their first three fixtures, one win, one draw, one loss, with five conceded, does not yet suggest they can handle that kind of pressure comfortably. Expect Leipzig to score at least once on Sunday, and on balance the home side's goal return — eight across those same three games, driven by Patrik Schick's four goals and Christian Kofane's three — is probably enough to make this competitive, but a clean sheet feels unlikely given Leipzig's early-season sharpness. The structural condition that shapes everything else is the absence of Guéla Doué: per Bulinews and confirmed by roundtable.io, a calf injury has removed him from the picture, and the role he filled — wide threat, pressing contribution, transition outlet — is not simply redistributed when a player of his profile drops out. Ibrahim Maza's two assists across the opening three fixtures indicate that creativity is not absent from this squad, but the width question is real, and Leipzig's nine goals scored across their own three games suggests they will probe it methodically. Facundo Medina's two goals from a defensive position points to how Leverkusen have generated from set pieces and late runs, and that dimension may matter in a game where open play could tilt toward the visitors; but the deeper test is whether this side, without Doué, can keep Leipzig's own transition moments under control long enough to let Schick and Kofane decide things at the other end.
Eight goals scored from three Bundesliga appearances is a number that rewards scrutiny rather than celebration, because five of them went in at the other end — and the shape of how they arrived matters more than the aggregate alone. The 2-3 away loss to SV Elversberg at URSAPHARM-Arena an der Kaiserlinde, a result this paper covered on 8 September, established an early-season vulnerability on the road that the 2-2 away draw with FC Augsburg at WWK Arena has since confirmed: Leverkusen have not kept a clean sheet away from BayArena this season, and in both games they conceded enough to be grateful for their own output rather than comfortable with the defensive structure. Patrik Schick's four Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal goals from this opening run are the clearest evidence that the attacking end is functioning — Ibrahim Maza's one goal and two assists add a creative layer that the record does not fully capture — but the return of Nathan Tella to training, per Sports247 Nigeria, suggests the squad is still recovering the personnel depth it needs to cycle through fixtures without dropping its defensive shape. RB Leipzig arrive at BayArena on Sunday sitting fifth with nine goals scored in three games, and whether Leverkusen can hold that shape at home — rather than simply outscore their way through it — is the thing Sunday will settle.
Leverkusen win at home against NK Celje on Wednesday 16 September 2026.
Leverkusen's attacking structure has carried a tension since the opening weekend — eight goals in three Bundesliga games, but also five conceded, which is a rate the squad's underlying profile of 2.00 scored and 1.38 allowed per game cannot sustain over a full campaign. The Playbook predicted a draw at Augsburg on 12 September, and it held: the 2-2 away draw with FC Augsburg at WWK Arena, preceded by the 4-0 home win over 1. FC Union Berlin at BayArena, leaves Leverkusen on four points from three games — a position that flatters neither the ambition nor the recruitment logic of a side that added depth across multiple positions this summer. Patrik Schick's four Bundesliga goals in three appearances, with an assist, is the clearest sign that the forward line is functioning; the question the table poses is whether the defensive shape can match it. Leverkusen host NK Celje in the Europa League on Wednesday, and The Playbook expects a win — the gap in class is wide enough that Schick and Christian Kofane, who has three goals of his own, should find space against a visiting side whose league context is absent from any current standings picture. The condition Wednesday settles is not the scoreline but the clean sheet: if Leverkusen cannot hold one here, the concession rate that opened this season becomes a structural problem, not a fixture-specific one.
Bayer Leverkusen sit 7th in the league with 3 points from 2 games — a 1W 0D 1L record that puts them on a 50% win rate. A +3 goal difference is functional — neither a strength nor a concern.
The most recent result was a win, which keeps the momentum positive.
The next fixture comes away against FC Augsburg in the 2026 27 German Bundesliga. On current form, maintaining a clean sheet will be central to the game plan — the defensive metrics across the season show that results largely follow the defensive performance rather than individual attacking brilliance.
Stats Deep Dive: 3.0 goals scored per game | 1.5 conceded per game | 1W 0D 1L from 2 games. Currently 3 points off top spot with 28 games remaining. Win rate: 50% | Points per game: 1.5.
The structural problem that surfaced in Leverkusen's 2-3 away loss to SV Elversberg — two goals conceded inside ten minutes to a newly promoted side — sat unresolved for a week before the 4-0 home win over 1. FC Union Berlin answered it, at least partially, and this paper called that win on 5 September and it duly arrived. What the Union Berlin result did not answer is whether Leverkusen's shape holds when the opposition arrives with a defensive block rather than an open press. FC Augsburg, sitting top of the Bundesliga on six points from two wins, concede at a rate of 0.5 per game and tackle more frequently than Leverkusen do — 16.06 per game against Leverkusen's 13.88 — which means Saturday at WWK Arena will ask the visitors to build through a side that actively hunts the ball rather than drops off it. Patrik Schick's three goals and Ibrahim Maza's two assists are the most productive attacking partnership Leverkusen have shown so far, and the structure that delivers them — Leverkusen's 59.2% possession average demanding they move the ball through a compact mid-block — is the question Saturday will answer.
Leverkusen's opening-day shape at URSAPHARM-Arena an der Kaiserlinde left a structural problem on the page: the two goals Elversberg scored inside ten minutes, per The Guardian, arrived through routes the side could not close, and a third followed early in the second half — a 2-3 away loss that now places Leverkusen 13th in the Bundesliga with a single point deficit to carry into BayArena. On balance, Leverkusen win this afternoon against 1. FC Union Berlin, though the Elversberg defeat earns enough respect that the call is narrow. Union arrive having drawn their opener — one point from one game, three goals scored and three conceded — which suggests an opponent that is neither settled at the back nor short of attacking intent, and a combined total above two goals is a reasonable expectation. What the fixture will test is whether Leverkusen's front structure, which produced six goals across two outings with Patrik Schick and Christian Kofane each on two for the season, can function against a side that does not surrender space as freely as Wiesbaden. Ibrahim Maza's two assists show the midfield can supply the final third; the structural question today is whether the roles ahead of him are occupied by players whose movement consistently pulls central defenders wide enough to create the lanes his passing exploits.
The Bundesliga table is three weeks old and already delivering verdicts that Leverkusen's board did not expect to read: one point from a possible three, sitting twelfth, with a goal difference of minus-one in the league — the structural cost of a 2-3 away loss to SV Elversberg, per both The Guardian and BBC Sport, who reported that Lukas Petkov and Cole Campbell scored within 60 seconds of each other to put the newly promoted side two goals up before the tenth minute. Across both completed fixtures, Leverkusen have scored six goals and conceded three, which sounds like a healthy attacking return until you separate the competitions: four of those goals came in the DFB-Pokal against lower-division Wehen Wiesbaden, while the Bundesliga ledger reads two scored and three conceded. Patrik Schick and Christian Kofane each have two goals to their names this season, but neither converted when the match had consequence. The Playbook expects Leverkusen to take all three points at home against 1. FC Union Berlin on Saturday — Union arrive having drawn their opener three goals apiece and having conceded freely — but the structural question the result will answer is whether this squad can defend a lead rather than chase one. Ibrahim Maza's two assists show the creative thread is there; what the BayArena fixture will test is whether the shape holds when opponents press back.
The Europa League draw arrived with Leverkusen still carrying the shape of a club that hasn't yet decided what it is in domestic competition — one point dropped on the opening Bundesliga weekend after the 2-3 away loss to SV Elversberg, per BBC Sport and The Guardian, a result in which newly promoted opponents from a town of 13,000 scored three times before the hour. Against that backdrop, the league-phase draw matters not just as a fixture list but as a structural signal: how Leverkusen manage rotation across eight Europa League matches against eight different opponents will define whether the continental run costs them ground in the Bundesliga or forces the squad depth question into the open before November. Celtic's announcement of a four-match package for Season Ticket holders confirms the fixture is real and the date is close; what it doesn't confirm is whether Leverkusen's current eleven — with Patrik Schick and Christian Kofane each on two Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal goals this season — is the group capable of sustaining two competitions simultaneously. The structural question the next month will answer is whether the club's recruitment has built a squad that distributes that load, or one that concentrates it.
Leverkusen's left side had been a structural question all pre-season — the creative and attacking load that Alejandro Grimaldo carried last season, now at Atlético de Madrid, was never replaced by a single player operating in the same role — and the 2-3 away loss to SV Elversberg on Saturday answered that question in the harshest possible way, against a newly promoted side from a town of 13,000 people making their first appearance in the Bundesliga. Per The Guardian, Lukas Petkov and Cole Campbell scored within 60 seconds of each other to put Elversberg 2-0 up before the 10-minute mark, and David Mokwa added a third early in the second half; the structure Leverkusen brought to the URSAPHARM-Arena an der Kaiserlinde could not absorb that opening tempo, and four Bundesliga scorers — Lucas Vázquez, Patrik Schick, Nathan Tella, and Christian Kofane, each with one goal to their name — were not enough to rescue the result. This paper called a Leverkusen win that day and missed it. The shape they carry into 1. FC Union Berlin on 5 September is the structural question that next week will answer.
Leverkusen arrive at SV Elversberg tomorrow carrying a structural problem that predates the fixture: the left-sided creative load that Alejandro Grimaldo — now with Atlético de Madrid — generated across last season, 12 goals and 11 assists, has not been redistributed so much as left open, and every fixture this year tests whether the current shape can manufacture the same width and penetration from different personnel. The Playbook expects Leverkusen to win away at Elversberg on Saturday, their 4-0 away win over SV Wehen Wiesbaden six days ago demonstrating that the attacking structure, with Patrik Schick's 22-goal threat anchoring the final third and Aleix García contributing 10 assists across Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal last season, can produce clean, controlled football when the defensive opposition is modest — and Elversberg, competing at the highest level of German football, represent a comparable test of that premise. Ernest Poku and Christian Kofane each bring direct running to the wide channels, and if the shape deploys them with the same decisiveness shown against Wehen Wiesbaden, the structure has a functional answer to the departed left-back's output, even if the goal contribution numbers remain uneven. The structural question Saturday settles is whether the wide roles are genuinely filled, or still being covered.
The squad Leverkusen carried into last season's final table — sixth, 59 points, a goal difference of plus 21 — was built around a left-sided output that no longer exists, and the structure of the 2026/27 roster will be shaped more decisively by that absence than by almost any other single factor. Alejandro Grimaldo, now with Atlético de Madrid, contributed 12 goals and 11 assists for the club last season; those numbers belonged to a role, not just a player, and that role remains unfilled. Into that context, per Sky Sports, Ipswich have made a bid for a Leverkusen midfielder, which adds a second line of pressure to a squad already adjusting to its most significant departure. The two structures that will define this window are the ones that answer those pressures: whether the club can redirect the attacking weight Grimaldo carried through the left channel, and whether the midfield retains the shape that made Aleix García's 6 goals and 10 assists possible in the first place. Victor Boniface, per Get German Football News, has spoken publicly about re-establishing himself at the club — the degree to which that happens alongside Christian Kofane and Ernest Poku determines whether Patrik Schick, whose 22 goals last season absorbed every margin for error upfront, carries a lighter or heavier load in 2026/27.
The position Bayer Leverkusen occupied at the end of last season — sixth in the Bundesliga, 59 points, a goal difference of plus 21 — represents a structural gap between what the club built two years ago and what it is still trying to be, and that gap is now a recruitment question with a deadline attached. Alejandro Grimaldo, who recorded 12 goals and 11 assists across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal last season before departing for Atlético de Madrid, per the roster data, was not simply a left-sided option; he was the engine of width and chance creation in a shape that depended on fullback contribution, and replacing that output through the squad rather than through the window is a decision with visible consequences. The DFB-Pokal win away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden — 4-0, as this paper predicted, and it landed cleanly — confirmed that Carles Martinez's first competitive victory has arrived, per Soccer News, which matters institutionally as much as tactically: a new manager's authority is fragile until the first result confirms it. Patrik Schick's 22 goals last season remain the one fixed point around which the attacking structure can be built, but the Saturday fixture away to SV Elversberg on 29 August will tell more about whether the squad's shape holds under routine pressure than any pre-season performance has.
Edmond Tapsoba's appointment as captain, confirmed by head coach Carles Martinez per OneFootball ahead of the 2026/27 campaign, is the kind of structural decision that tells you more about a club's direction than any pre-season friendly — it installs defensive authority at the centre of a squad that finished sixth last season with 59 points, and it arrives the night Leverkusen travel to SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the DFB-Pokal. The Playbook expects Leverkusen to win away in Wiesbaden tonight. Patrik Schick, who carried 22 goals across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal last season, gives this side a cutting edge that a lower-division side should not be able to contain for 90 minutes; Christian Kofane's seven goals alongside Ernest Poku's five — plus Poku's eight assists — mean the attacking structure does not collapse if Schick is managed carefully in a fixture this early in August. What the result will tell us structurally is whether the back line, now led publicly by Tapsoba, can hold shape on the road in a cup environment that routinely rewards the home side's energy before the opening quarter-hour is done.
Patrik Schick's 22 goals last season — the squad's clear load-bearer — makes the Palacios situation the sharpest number in the off-season window. Per Sky Sports, Ipswich Town are in talks to sign Exequiel Palacios, and with fussballdaten.de reporting English interest in another Leverkusen profile amid a sixth-place finish on 59 points, the question of squad depth is real. Alejandro Grimaldo, now at Atlético de Madrid, contributed 12 goals and 11 assists last season; replacing that left-flank output hasn't been publicly resolved. The DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22 arrives with the transfer window still unsettled — expect Leverkusen to win that tie, but the XI that takes the field will say more about the squad's actual shape than any summer headline.
Exequiel Palacios may not finish pre-season at BayArena — per Sky Sports, Ipswich Town are in talks to sign the midfielder, a move that would thin a squad already navigating a sixth-place finish and 59 points last season. Patrik Schick's 22 goals across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal give Leverkusen a dependable attacking spine, but Alejandro Grimaldo's departure to Atlético de Madrid — 12 goals and 11 assists last season — leaves a gap in the left flank that the current roster hasn't visibly filled. Malik Tillman, per soccernews.com, has described last season as the worst of his career and remains open to an exit, which adds another variable before the DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22.
Sixth place and 59 points last season represents a meaningful step down from Leverkusen's title-winning heights, and the squad rebuild this summer reflects that honestly. Alejandro Grimaldo, who contributed 12 goals and 11 assists last season, has departed for Atlético de Madrid, removing the single most prolific attacking output from the back line. Patrik Schick's 22 goals remain the foundation the attack is built around, and per Get German Football News, a tactical preview for 2026-27 suggests the club has been reshaped accordingly. Victor Boniface, per Get German Football News, has spoken publicly about rebuilding his relationship with the BayArena support — a signal of intent from a striker who is back in the fold and hungry to prove it. The tension to watch is Malik Tillman: per Soccer News, he has acknowledged openness to leaving after describing last season as the worst of his career, which leaves a real question mark over the depth behind Schick heading into the DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22nd.
Patrik Schick's 22 goals last season — the anchor of everything Leverkusen built in attack — give the squad a genuine foundation to work from, but sixth place on 59 points and a goal difference of just +21 signals that the squad around him needs reinforcing before August 22. Alejandro Grimaldo, who contributed 12 goals and 11 assists for the club last season, has since moved to Atlético de Madrid, and replacing that left-flank output is the transfer window's central question. The DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden arrives before the Bundesliga even starts, which means the rebuilt squad gets its first competitive audition almost immediately.
Patrik Schick's 22 goals and 4 assists last season — the highest individual output at the club across Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal combined — give Leverkusen a reliable focal point heading into 2026-27, but the squad arithmetic around him has shifted sharply. Alejandro Grimaldo, who contributed 12 goals and 11 assists from left back before moving to Atlético de Madrid, was among the most productive defenders in German football last season, and replacing that attacking output from a defensive position is not straightforward. Aleix García's 6 goals and 10 assists from midfield confirm the engine room remains intact, and the arrival of Lucas Vázquez adds experienced wide cover, but the left flank still represents the most visible gap in the current group.
Pre-season results suggest Leverkusen are finding their footing under new conditions. A 2-1 friendly win over Newcastle at St James' Park, in front of a crowd above 39,000, was followed by a midweek fixture against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, per Yahoo Sports and The Guardian respectively — two high-profile tests against Premier League opposition that double as useful gauges of where the squad actually stands. That Malik Tillman, per soccernews.com, remains open to leaving this summer after describing last season as the worst of his career adds a further personnel question to a window that already needs clarity at left back and in the wide channels before the competitive calendar opens.
That calendar opens on 22 August, when Leverkusen travel to face SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the DFB-Pokal. A sixth-place Bundesliga finish last season — 59 points, goal difference of plus 21 — frames this as a squad that should navigate a first-round cup tie without Schick needing to carry the attacking load alone, but the depth question around Ernest Poku (5 goals, 8 assists last season) and Christian Kofane (7 goals, 6 assists) is exactly the kind of thing a fixture against lower-division opposition exposes. Watch whether the wider forward group, not just Schick, generates end product away from home.
Facundo Medina's arrival from Marseille — confirmed by soccernews.com at a fee of up to €25m — is the clearest signal yet of where Leverkusen intend to strengthen after finishing sixth in the Bundesliga last season with 59 points. The Argentine centre-back brings World Cup pedigree and addresses a defensive depth question that became harder to ignore once the final table was settled. With Loïc Badé and Edmond Tapsoba already on the books, Medina gives the backline genuine options across a season that includes European football and a DFB-Pokal campaign.
The attacking picture carries more complexity. Alejandro Grimaldo, who recorded 12 goals and 11 assists for Leverkusen last season, has since joined Atlético de Madrid — his output from the left flank will not simply be absorbed by the players already here. Patrik Schick led the scoring last term with 22 goals and four assists across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal, and the squad's ability to generate from wide positions will depend on whether Ernest Poku (5 goals, 8 assists) and Nathan Tella can step into larger roles, or whether the transfer window produces another wide addition before it closes. Per OneFootball, a move for Moussa Diaby has stalled amid interest from Inter Milan, which leaves that question unanswered for now.
The DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on 22 August arrives quickly — too quickly for extended pre-season experimentation. Aleix García (6 goals, 10 assists last season) will be central to how the midfield is structured, and Medina's integration into the back four is the practical test that first cup fixture will run. Whether Leverkusen can convert last season's sixth-place finish into a genuine European qualification challenge in 2026-27 may be settled less by one transfer than by how cleanly the new defensive shape holds from the first competitive minute.
Facundo Medina's arrival from Olympique Marseille for €23m, confirmed by multiple outlets including Sofascore and Vodacom Soccer, is the clearest signal yet of where Leverkusen see the gaps after a sixth-place finish on 59 points last season. The Argentina international adds defensive depth to a squad that conceded enough over 34 Bundesliga matches to post a goal difference of just +21 — functional, but not the profile of a club that expects to compete in the Champions League places. Medina joins a roster that already includes Edmond Tapsoba, Loïc Badé, and Jarell Quansah in central defence, so the competition for spots this pre-season will be genuine.
Alejandro Grimaldo, now with Atlético de Madrid, registered 12 goals and 11 assists across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal last season — an output that will not be replaced by one signing. Aleix García (6G, 10A) and Ernest Poku (5G, 8A) give the squad creative tools, while Patrik Schick's 22 goals across those same competitions mean the central attacking reference point remains. Per OneFootball, a deal for Moussa Diaby has stalled amid interest from Inter — which leaves the left-sided attacking question unresolved ahead of the new campaign, and makes the Grimaldo-shaped hole feel more pressing with each passing week.
There is also structural turbulence off the pitch: per City AM, Leverkusen are among the Bundesliga clubs deemed non-compliant with the 50+1 ownership rule, and face a potential ownership overhaul as a result. How that resolves will matter for spending power well beyond this window. The immediate priority, though, is the DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on 22 August — a fixture that will give the first real read on how Medina and the reshuffled defensive unit function together under competitive pressure.
Facundo Medina's arrival from Olympique Marseille — confirmed at a fee of up to €25m, per Soccer News — is the clearest signal yet of where Leverkusen are building. The Argentina international impressed at the FIFA World Cup 2026 with his defensive assurance as Argentina reached the final, per Bundesliga reporting, and the club have moved quickly to add that pedigree to a back line that finished sixth in the Bundesliga last season on 59 points. A squad that produced a goal difference of +21 across the campaign needed defensive reinforcement to close the gap between sixth and the European spots above them — Medina addresses that directly.
The season's attacking spine remains intact and productive. Patrik Schick's 22 goals and four assists across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal made him the undisputed focal point of the attack, while Aleix García contributed six goals and ten assists as the creative engine from midfield. Alejandro Grimaldo, now with Atlético de Madrid, posted 12 goals and 11 assists for the club last season, so that creative output from the left flank is the one gap the squad must absorb heading into the new campaign — Medina's addition reinforces the defence, but the attacking balance with Grimaldo gone is a different question entirely.
The DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22 is where this rebuilt group gets its first examination. Christian Kofane and Ernest Poku — seven goals and six assists, and five goals and eight assists respectively last season — will be expected to shoulder more of the wide creative burden Grimaldo carried, and a cup tie on the road against lower-division opposition is as reasonable a place as any to find out whether that transition is already underway.
Alejandro Grimaldo's 12 goals and 11 assists last season made him one of the Bundesliga's most dangerous left-backs, and filling that void was Leverkusen's most pressing piece of summer business. Per Soccer News, the club has done exactly that, signing Miguel Gutiérrez from Napoli on a five-year deal. Gutiérrez is already on the roster, which means the left flank has an answer before the DFB-Pokal opener on August 22. Whether Gutiérrez can match what Grimaldo — who departed to Atlético de Madrid — produced from that position will shape how much attacking threat flows through the left channel in 2026-27.
The squad's finishing platform looks intact where it matters most. Patrik Schick's 22 goals across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal last season remain the load-bearing number in attack, and he is on the roster. Behind him, Christian Kofane (7G 6A) and Ernest Poku (5G 8A) provide depth in the final third — though Kofane's future is uncertain: OneFootball reported on August 6 that Everton are among Premier League clubs tracking him. Losing a 7-goal contributor before pre-season concludes would force a recalibration of the forward options. Aleix García (6G 10A in midfield) and the addition of Portuguese winger Afonso Moreira from Olympique Lyon add further layers, with Moreira's arrival confirmed by Bundesliga coverage, though no contract length was specified in that report.
Robert Andrich's situation is the one to monitor in the final stretch of the window. Soccer News reported on August 8 that Andrich himself has dismissed concerns over his future despite exit speculation, which keeps a key central midfielder in place for the DFB-Pokal trip to SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Leverkusen finished last season sixth in the Bundesliga on 59 points — a record of 17 wins, eight draws, and nine losses — and the gap between that and European qualification will demand a more consistent run. The Wehen Wiesbaden away tie on August 22 is the first competitive read on whether this reshaped squad has the cohesion to do it.
Alejandro Grimaldo's departure was always going to leave a structural gap on the left — 12 goals and 11 assists in a single season is the kind of output that reshapes how opponents set their defensive line. Leverkusen's answer, per soccernews.com, is Miguel Gutiérrez, signed from Napoli on a five-year deal. Gutiérrez is already on the roster, so the left flank is covered heading into the new campaign, even if replacing Grimaldo's attacking numbers is a multi-season project rather than a straightforward swap.
The wider picture around the squad is more settled than the transfer noise might suggest. Robert Andrich, per soccernews.com, has spoken publicly about having no concern over his Leverkusen future, pushing back on speculation he could leave this window — a meaningful signal for a midfield that will need continuity. Patrik Schick returns as the focal point with 22 goals last season across Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal, and Aleix García's 6 goals and 10 assists give the midfield a genuine creative anchor behind him. The addition of Portuguese winger Afonso Moreira from Olympique Lyon adds another attacking option on the flanks, at 21 years old a profile that fits a squad trying to rebuild toward European relevance after finishing sixth on 59 points last term.
The season's first real test arrives on 22 August, when Leverkusen travel to face SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the DFB-Pokal. A cup opener against lower-division opposition is exactly where squads sorted by a busy transfer window either find their rhythm or expose their unresolved questions — and with Christian Kofane (7 goals, 6 assists) and Ernest Poku (5 goals, 8 assists) adding depth across the front line, there is enough attacking variety to rotate without losing threat. Whether Gutiérrez has settled into the left channel by then is the first selection question of the new season.
Alejandro Grimaldo's departure to Atlético de Madrid closes a chapter that generated 12 goals and 11 assists for Leverkusen last season — the most productive attacking output from a defender in the squad. The direct response, per soccernews.com, is the five-year signing of Miguel Gutiérrez from Napoli, a left-back already on the roster. That is a like-for-like replacement in position, though whether Gutiérrez can replicate the attacking volume Grimaldo produced from the left flank is the question the first weeks of pre-season will begin to answer.
The other arrival worth noting is 21-year-old Portuguese winger Afonso Moreira, confirmed from Olympique Lyon and now on the current roster. His addition gives the front line more options alongside Christian Kofane — seven goals and six assists last season — and Ernest Poku, who contributed five goals and eight assists. Patrik Schick, the squad's standout finisher with 22 goals last season, remains the focal point, and Robert Andrich addressed reports linking him away by stating he has no concerns over his future, per soccernews.com — a meaningful signal of stability in central midfield ahead of a season where Leverkusen finished sixth on 59 points and will need a sharper run to push into European qualification places.
The DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22 arrives before any Bundesliga competitive rhythm is established, which makes it an early read on whether the new left flank combinations and Moreira's integration have taken shape. Aleix García, whose 10 assists last season made him the primary creator from midfield, will be central to how quickly the attack finds its connections. A clean sheet in that cup fixture would be the first concrete evidence that the backline transition has held.
Alejandro Grimaldo's departure — 12 goals and 11 assists across Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal last season — left a gap that Leverkusen have moved to address directly. Per soccernews.com, the club have signed left-back Miguel Gutiérrez from Napoli on a five-year deal, with the move framed as a like-for-like replacement. Gutiérrez is already on the roster, which means the rebuild at left-back is structurally resolved before the DFB-Pokal opener on August 22. Whether he can contribute in the final third at the level Grimaldo maintained — double figures in goal contributions from a defensive position — is the honest question the pre-season friendly against Sevilla (per ESPN AU, played August 6) will have started to answer.
The attacking spine Leverkusen do retain is significant. Patrik Schick's 22 goals across last season's competitions make him the clearest offensive reference point heading into the new campaign, and with Aleix García adding 6 goals and 10 assists as the midfield engine, the creative framework is intact. Christian Kofane (7 goals, 6 assists) and Ernest Poku (5 goals, 8 assists) give the club further attacking options from forward positions. The more pressing squad question — raised by soccernews.com — surrounds Robert Andrich, who has publicly said he is unconcerned by transfer speculation, but the noise itself signals that the midfield could yet look different by the time Wehen Wiesbaden arrive at the BayArena.
Leverkusen finished sixth last season on 59 points with a goal difference of plus 21 — a positive attacking return, but a points tally that left them short of where this squad's ceiling suggests they should operate. The DFB-Pokal away trip to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22 is low-stakes on paper but operationally important: it is the first competitive read on how Gutiérrez integrates on the left and whether Andrich's situation has been resolved or merely managed. Watch the defensive shape and the left channel specifically — that flank was Leverkusen's most productive attacking corridor last season, and it now runs through a player making his competitive debut for the club.
Patrik Schick's 22 goals across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal last season stand as the clearest measure of where Leverkusen's attack is anchored — and equally, the clearest measure of the risk the club carries into pre-season. A forward producing at that volume is the kind of player around whom a whole offensive structure organises itself, and Leverkusen finished sixth on 59 points, a campaign that suggests the rest of the squad never quite matched that output consistently enough.
The departure of Alejandro Grimaldo — now with Atlético de Madrid after recording 12 goals and 11 assists from left back last season — strips Leverkusen of a player who functioned as a second creative engine from deep. Aleix García's 6 goals and 10 assists give the midfield a credible distributor, and Ernest Poku's 5 goals and 8 assists show there is width and movement in behind. But Grimaldo's combined output of 23 goal contributions from a defensive position was the kind of structural advantage that does not simply redistribute itself to existing names when a squad rebuilds.
Leverkusen open the DFB-Pokal on August 22 away at SV Wehen Wiesbaden, and the early cup fixture will be the first public read on how the squad has been reshaped and whether Christian Kofane — 7 goals and 6 assists last season — has been given a wider role to compensate for what left with Grimaldo. A sixth-place finish demands a response; the Wehen Wiesbaden game is where the shape of that response begins to show.
Alejandro Grimaldo's departure leaves a significant gap to fill — 12 goals and 11 assists across Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal last season made him Leverkusen's second-most productive contributor behind Patrik Schick. The club has moved to address it directly: per soccernews.com and Sofascore, Miguel Gutiérrez arrived from Napoli on August 5 in a €26 million deal, committing to Leverkusen for five years at age 25. It is a targeted replacement rather than a speculative one — a recognised left-back who inherits one of the most demanding wide roles in the squad.
The second confirmed addition is 21-year-old Portuguese winger Afonso Moreira from Olympique Lyon. With Patrik Schick's 22 goals last season carrying much of Leverkusen's attacking load — and Christian Kofane and Ernest Poku combining for 12 goals and 14 assists in support — adding a young winger suggests the squad is being reshaped around that front line rather than rebuilt from scratch. Moreira's age profile also fits a pattern of bringing in players who can grow within the group rather than simply fill minutes.
Leverkusen's season ended with 59 points and a sixth-place finish, a result that confirmed European football but underlined the gap to the top of the Bundesliga. The DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22 arrives before the league campaign restarts, and it will be the first public look at how Gutiérrez and Moreira slot into the system — including how Gutiérrez channels the attacking contribution Grimaldo made a structural part of Leverkusen's left side.
Alejandro Grimaldo's 12 goals and 11 assists last season made him one of the Bundesliga's most productive attacking fullbacks, which is precisely why the news that Leverkusen have wrapped up a €30m deal for his replacement, per OneFootball, carries so much weight. A player at that output level doesn't get swapped out cheaply, and the fee signals the club is treating the left flank as a priority rather than an afterthought. Whoever steps into that role inherits a position that generated 23 combined goal contributions last season — the bar is set high, and it was set in public.
Alongside that, Leverkusen have confirmed the arrival of 21-year-old Portuguese winger Afonso Moreira from Olympique Lyon. Moreira represents a different kind of investment: younger, less proven, but the profile of a player added to grow into a squad rather than to immediately replicate a departing player's output. With Christian Kofane (7G, 6A) and Ernest Poku (5G, 8A) already providing forward-line options, Moreira would give the attack another wide body — the competition for minutes on the flanks next season is shaping up to be genuine.
The bigger picture entering 2026-27 is that sixth place and 59 points last season represented a meaningful step back from title-contending form, and the DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22nd arrives before the squad will have had any meaningful league benchmark to calibrate against. Patrik Schick's 22 goals last season remain the spine of the attacking identity, and the question that pre-season can't fully answer is whether the restructured wide positions can maintain the supply lines he depends on once Bundesliga defences start adjusting in September.
Leverkusen's summer activity has centred on two distinct problems inherited from a sixth-place finish and 59 points last season: replacing a left flank contributor who carried enormous attacking weight, and adding width to the forward line. Per OneFootball, the club wrapped up a €30m deal for a preferred replacement for Alejandro Grimaldo — whose 12 goals and 11 assists last season made him one of the Bundesliga's most productive defenders in either direction. Losing that combination of output from a defensive position is the kind of structural gap that doesn't disappear with a name signing alone; it requires whoever arrives to contribute at both ends, not just occupy the berth.
The second confirmed move addresses the width question on the opposite flank. Bayer Leverkusen have announced the signing of Portuguese winger Afonso Moreira, 21, from Olympique Lyon. The arrival of a young wide attacker makes sense alongside Ernest Poku — who registered 5 goals and 8 assists last season — and gives the attack a different profile on the right side. Whether Moreira can reach Poku's level of combined output immediately is an open question, but his age suggests the club views this as a development asset rather than a ready replacement.
The more pressing obligation arrives on 22 August, when Leverkusen travel to face SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the DFB-Pokal. Patrik Schick — 22 goals last season across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal — will be the attacking reference point for a squad still integrating new faces. That opener functions as both a competitive benchmark and a first reading of whether the reconstructed wide positions can consistently supply a striker who has proven he finishes when the service arrives.
Kennet Eichhorn's indefinite absence, confirmed by Bulinews after a metabolic disorder diagnosis, is the sharpest piece of news arriving at BayArena this summer — not because of what Eichhorn brings, but because of what it removes before the squad has played a competitive minute together. A club finishing sixth in the Bundesliga on 59 points, nine wins from seventeen possible at home, cannot absorb an injury to a first-team addition without consequences across the depth chart. The timing matters: Leverkusen open their DFB-Pokal campaign on 22 August away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden with a full competitive fixture on the horizon and a squad still finding its shape.
Into that gap steps a new face on the other flank. Afonso Moreira, the 21-year-old Portuguese winger signed from Olympique Lyon, arrives as the clearest indication of where Leverkusen expect their attacking threat to come from this season. The existing production is concentrated: Patrik Schick delivered 22 goals and four assists across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal last season, while Alejandro Grimaldo — operating from left-back — contributed 12 goals and 11 assists. Ernest Poku added five goals and eight assists from wide. Adding a young winger of Moreira's profile suggests the club wants more direct width and penetration in the final third, particularly given that the 17 Bundesliga wins last season were often built on attacking combinations through the half-spaces rather than isolated individual quality.
The Wehen Wiesbaden trip on 22 August gives the squad its first verifiable competitive data point of the new campaign — and given the DFB-Pokal's history of producing early upsets, Leverkusen will want Schick's finishing and Grimaldo's delivery functioning from the opening whistle. The Eichhorn situation will continue to define how heavily the club leans on that established attacking nucleus before the Bundesliga schedule demands full rotation capacity.
Patrik Schick's 16 goals across all competitions last season amounted to exactly double the next-highest contributor in the squad — Alejandro Grimaldo, whose 8 goals and 8 assists from left back gave Leverkusen their most complete output from a defensive player. That gap between Schick and everyone else is the structural question hanging over the club's summer: a 59-point, sixth-place finish is a sharp step down from the club's recent European ambitions, and a single-point source of goals that heavy makes the attack brittle whenever Schick is unavailable.
What the numbers do show is that creative supply exists across the group. Grimaldo's 8 assists, Aleix García's 8 assists from central midfield, and Ernest Poku and Christian Kofane each contributing 5 goals and a combined 9 assists point to a team that generates chances broadly — the finishing is just concentrated in one place. A record with a goal difference of +21 suggests the underlying quality is present; converting that into a European finish in 2026-27 means the attacking depth around Schick has to carry more of the scoring load than it managed this past season.
The first competitive test arrives on 22 August when Leverkusen travel to face SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the DFB-Pokal — a third-tier opponent that will demand a different kind of performance than the Bundesliga run-in provided, but one that will tell us early whether the front line can distribute its threat more evenly when Schick does not need to be the answer to every question.
Sixth place and 59 points from 34 Bundesliga matches last season is the number that frames Leverkusen's summer. A side that won the title in 2023-24 slipped to, and the gap between that championship squad and last season's edition runs directly through the left flank — where Alejandro Grimaldo's 12 goals and 11 assists across all competitions made him one of the most productive defenders in European football. Per Bulinews, Leverkusen have opened talks over a World Cup finalist to fill that role, which tells you exactly how seriously the club reads its own numbers. No Grimaldo replacement means the delivery and overload threat from the left channel that generated so much of the attack simply isn't replicated.
The other figure shaping pre-season preparation is Patrik Schick's 20 goals across all competitions — a return that anchors the attack even when the midfield contribution was modest (Aleix García managed five goals and eight assists, Christian Kofane six and five). That forward dependency held last season, and it will again in 2026-27 unless the club can add volume from wider areas. Malik Tillman, who the Bundesliga's own coverage highlighted for his World Cup contributions, is the profile most likely to add that second layer of attacking threat in the final third — and how he integrates into what was an inconsistent side will be a central question of pre-season.
Leverkusen open the new campaign in the DFB-Pokal against SV Wehen Wiesbaden on 22 August, a fixture that should offer a first competitive reading of how the squad has been reshaped. Wehen Wiesbaden's resources are substantially below Bundesliga level, so the result matters less than the structure: can the left side function without Grimaldo, and does Schick have runners alongside him worth supplying? Those two questions will define the first month of the season far more than the scoreline on the 22nd.
The left-back position is the most consequential rebuild question Leverkusen carry into the summer. Alejandro Grimaldo finished the 2025-26 Bundesliga season with 12 goals and 11 assists across all competitions — an output that made him one of the most productive attacking full-backs in European football — and replacing that returns far more than a defensive slot. Per Bulinews, the club has opened talks targeting a World Cup finalist to fill the role, which signals the hierarchy understands the scale of what they are replacing rather than reaching for a stopgap.
The table context sharpens the urgency. Leverkusen finished sixth on 59 points from a 17-8-9 record, a goal difference of plus-21 underscoring that the attacking quality was present; the problem was consistency, not firepower. Patrik Schick delivered 20 goals and four assists across all competitions, and the forward line as a whole retained its threat through the final weeks of the season. A rebuilt left flank that carries even half of Grimaldo's creative volume would meaningfully close the gap to the European qualification places rather than simply maintaining sixth.
The first on-pitch test arrives August 22 in the DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden — a fixture that will show how the summer's structural decisions translate to a starting eleven. Whether Grimaldo's replacement is bedded in by then, or whether the back four is patched together from existing options, that cup tie doubles as the earliest read on whether the squad is being rebuilt to push higher up the Bundesliga or merely to hold its ground.
Sixth place and 59 points — Leverkusen finished last season with enough to keep the lights on but not enough to return to European football. The gap between their final-day draw against Hamburg SV and a continental berth defines exactly where the squad stands: capable of beating RB Leipzig 4-1 but equally capable of losing 3-1 at Stuttgart. Patrik Schick's 20 goals across all competitions meant the attack was never the problem. The inconsistency that produced eight draws alongside Two defeats in their last five Bundesliga matches leave Leverkusen's recent form uneven but far from broken. was.
The off-season question circling the club is whether the left flank can hold its shape. Alejandro Grimaldo contributed 12 goals and 11 assists last season — a return that would flatter most attacking midfielders, let alone a defender — and per Bulinews, Leverkusen have opened talks over a World Cup finalist to address that position. Whatever the outcome of those talks, the club is also moving in younger talent: they have signed Luca Erlein from Hoffenheim and immediately sent him out on loan to Energie Cottbus, which suggests a squad-building approach that prioritises development depth alongside senior recruitment. The combination of that defensive overhaul and the continued presence of Schick at the top of the pitch sets the attacking floor; the ceiling depends on whether a replacement in behind can generate anything close to what Grimaldo produced going forward.
The DFB-Pokal opener against SV Wehen Wiesbaden on 22 August arrives before any Bundesliga rhythm is established, which makes it both a chance for Aleix García and Ernest Poku — eight assists and six goals respectively last season — to find form early, and an early indicator of whether the squad additions have settled. A club finishing sixth with a goal difference of 21 still has the individual quality to go deep in the cup; the question on 22 August is whether the collective organisation is ready from the first competitive minute.
Afonso Moreira's goal in the 3-1 win over Kickers Offenbach, reported by Bulinews, is the most concrete signal of where Leverkusen stand heading into pre-season: a summer signing already on the scoresheet and clearly integrating into the squad's attacking structure. That matters because the Bundesliga finish — sixth place, 59 points, a goal difference of plus 21 across a 17-8-9 campaign — left the club short of European football for next season, and the pressure to rebuild output is real. Patrik Schick's 20 goals and four assists across all competitions last term set the attacking standard; what surrounds him next cycle will determine whether Leverkusen reclaim a European position.
The production distribution from last season tells a slightly more complicated story. Alejandro Grimaldo's 12 goals and 11 assists from left back represent a level of attacking output that few clubs in the Bundesliga get from a defender. Aleix García and Ernest Poku combined for 11 goals and 11 assists in the Bundesliga last season, each finishing with five goals apiece, providing a genuine supporting cast behind Schick, while Christian Kofane's six goals added a further attacking dimension. A squad that generated this kind of distributed output — rather than dependence on a single creator — finished sixth, which suggests the issue last season was as much defensive and structural as it was about goal threat.
The DFB-Pokal opener on 22 August against SV Wehen Wiesbaden is Leverkusen's first competitive test of whether pre-season work has translated. Wiesbaden will offer limited resistance in Bundesliga terms, but the match functions as a live read on squad fitness, Moreira's integration, and whether the forward combinations have sharpened after the summer. A cup exit to a lower-division side at this stage would set a damaging tone — the DFB-Pokal is one of the routes to silverware in a season where European group-stage football is not yet secured.
Afonso Moreira's goal in the 3-1 win over Kickers Offenbach, reported by Bulinews, is the most concrete signal of where Leverkusen stand heading into pre-season: a summer signing already on the scoresheet and clearly integrating into the squad's attacking structure. That matters because the Bundesliga finish — sixth place, 59 points, a goal difference of plus 21 across a 17-8-9 campaign — left the club short of European football for next season, and the pressure to rebuild output is real. Patrik Schick's 20 goals and four assists across all competitions last term set the attacking standard; what surrounds him next cycle will determine whether Leverkusen reclaim a European position.
The production distribution from last season tells a slightly more complicated story. Alejandro Grimaldo's 12 goals and 11 assists from left back represent a level of attacking output that few clubs in the Bundesliga get from a defender. Aleix García and Ernest Poku combined for 11 goals and 11 assists in the Bundesliga last season, each finishing with five goals apiece, providing a genuine supporting cast behind Schick, while Christian Kofane's six goals added a further attacking dimension. A squad that generated this kind of distributed output — rather than dependence on a single creator — finished sixth, which suggests the issue last season was as much defensive and structural as it was about goal threat.
The DFB-Pokal opener on 22 August against SV Wehen Wiesbaden is Leverkusen's first competitive test of whether pre-season work has translated. Wiesbaden will offer limited resistance in Bundesliga terms, but the match functions as a live read on squad fitness, Moreira's integration, and whether the forward combinations have sharpened after the summer. A cup exit to a lower-division side at this stage would set a damaging tone — the DFB-Pokal is one of the routes to silverware in a season where European group-stage football is not yet secured.
Afonso Moreira's goal against Kickers Offenbach — reported by Bulinews — gives Leverkusen's pre-season a sharper edge than the final Bundesliga table suggests. The summer signing is finding the net in build-up fixtures, which matters for a squad that finished sixth on 59 points last season, nine points off the pace needed to push for European football. Patrik Schick's 20 goals across all competitions last season mean the attacking foundation is there; the question is who supplements him from wide when the fixtures tighten.
That sixth-place finish —,, goal difference plus 21 — left Leverkusen outside UEFA competition entirely, a result that sharpens the stakes of every pre-season choice. Alejandro Grimaldo contributed 12 goals and 11 assists last season from left back, a return that makes him one of the most dangerous attacking outlets in the division from deep. Aleix García's 8 assists in central midfield were the connective thread in the final third, and how well those combinations re-establish themselves in August will determine whether Leverkusen can close that points gap on the European places.
The DFB-Pokal opener against SV Wehen Wiesbaden on 22 August now functions as more than a cup formality — it is the first competitive read on whether the pre-season work has sharpened the cohesion that frayed in the final weeks of last Bundesliga campaign. Ernest Poku's 5 goals and 6 assists and Christian Kofane's 6 goals and 5 assists give the wide positions genuine depth, but converting pre-season sharpness against lower-tier opposition into clean, high-tempo cup football against a motivated Wiesbaden side is a different test entirely.
Sixth place and 59 points from a 17-8-9 campaign is a respectable platform, but it represents a significant step back for a club that lifted the Bundesliga title two years ago. The final-day 1-1 at home to Hamburg SV captured the season's frustrations neatly: enough quality to avoid losing, rarely enough to impose. The attacking numbers tell a more encouraging story — Patrik Schick finished with 20 goals and 4 assists across all competitions, and Alejandro Grimaldo contributed 12 goals and 11 assists from left back, a return that would headline most Bundesliga squads. The question for the summer is whether that firepower can be built around a platform capable of sustaining a top-four push across an entire campaign.
One answer to that question is already partially visible in the squad's depth management. Per Karlobag.eu, Alejo Sarco has departed for Sporting Gijón, with Leverkusen retaining a buy-back clause — the kind of exit that signals the club is tidying its fringes rather than discarding assets entirely. Below Schick and Grimaldo in the scoring charts, Christian Kofane (6 goals, 5 assists) and Ernest Poku (5 goals, 6 assists) represent genuine rotational options who produced at a reasonable rate, while Aleix García added 5 goals and 8 assists from midfield. The spine of the attack is present; the window is about reinforcing around it without losing the young players the club rates enough to protect with a clause.
The immediate competitive test arrives on 22 August, when Leverkusen travel to face SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the DFB-Pokal. For a squad in pre-season shape and carrying the motivation of proving last season was a correction rather than a trend, a first-round cup tie against lower-division opposition offers an early opportunity to set a tone — and to see which players from the fringe of the group have used the summer to press their cases. How the front line functions without the ball, and whether García's output from deep midfield carries over, will be the two things worth watching on matchday one.
Sixth place and 59 points was Leverkusen's final accounting last season — a finish that leaves them outside European competition and sets up a summer with real decisions attached. That context matters for the DFB-Pokal opener against SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22, the club's first competitive fixture of the new campaign and one they will be expected to handle emphatically.
Ibrahim Maza carried his Bundesliga form directly into the World Cup knockout stage, per Bundesliga.com, which at least confirms the club produced one of the competition's standout young performers when the season mattered most. Elsewhere, Alejo Sarco has departed for Sporting Gijón, per Karlobag.eu, with Leverkusen retaining a buy-back clause — a structure that protects the club's interest in a young player without anchoring him to a sixth-place squad. Whether Exequiel Palacios follows a different path is an open question: an Argentine source cited by Bulinews links him to RB Leipzig, and nothing has been reported on that front to resolve it either way.
On the pitch, the attacking numbers from last season provide a useful lens for where the weight falls. Patrik Schick finished on 20 goals and 4 assists across all competitions, and Alejandro Grimaldo contributed 12 goals and 11 assists from left back — two figures that made Leverkusen's attack functional even when results like the 1-3 defeat at Stuttgart undermined the table position. The question the Wehen Wiesbaden match will begin to answer is whether that combination looks intact under early-season conditions, or whether the summer has shifted the balance.
Sixth place and 59 points was not where Leverkusen planned to spend last May. A side that finished with a positive goal difference of 21 but won only 17 of 34 league games left quality on the table — and the DFB-Pokal opener away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22nd is where the rebuild meets its first public test. Nothing about last season's final stretch suggested the attack was broken: Patrik Schick ended the campaign with 20 goals and four assists across all competitions, Alejandro Grimaldo contributed 12 goals and 11 assists from left back, and that is a spine most Bundesliga clubs would not trade. What went wrong was consistency, not personnel ceiling.
The off-season needle has moved in both directions. Per Karlobag.eu, Alejo Sarco has departed for Sporting Gijón, though Leverkusen retained a buy-back clause — a sensible hedge on a young player whose development path isn't closed. On the incoming side, Sky Germany, via Bulinews, reports a full agreement to sign 19-year-old Luca Erlein from TSG Hoffenheim, a signal that the club is stocking the pipeline at the younger end of the squad. Nothing has been reported on further senior arrivals. Perhaps the most direct summer story comes from Get German Football News, which covers Victor Boniface scoring a brace in Leverkusen's first pre-season friendly: he described his condition as feeling great, which after a disrupted 2025-26 season is worth filing carefully — he does not appear in last season's top-scorer list, so any uptick in his output would be additive to what Schick and Grimaldo already provide.
Whether Erlein's arrival accelerates the timeline or simply deepens a youth layer, the real question surfaces on August 22nd. Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the DFB-Pokal is exactly the kind of fixture where pre-season sharpness — or the absence of it — shows up in the final third before the Bundesliga schedule arrives. Watch whether Boniface's friendly form translates into an early start alongside Schick, and whether Grimaldo's attacking output from last season carries its momentum into competitive football from week one.
Leverkusen finished last Bundesliga season sixth, on 59 points from a 17-8-9 record — a goal difference of plus-21 that tells a better story about the quality in the squad than the final table position does. That gap between the underlying numbers and where they actually landed is the tension the club carries into 2026-27. Patrik Schick closed the campaign with 20 goals and four assists across all competitions, and Alejandro Grimaldo added 12 goals and 11 assists from left-back — output that would be elite in any league in Europe. A sixth-place finish with that kind of production from those two players points to something structural going wrong in the middle of the season rather than a shortage of individual quality.
The summer has already produced at least one notable departure: Alejo Sarco has left for Sporting Gijón, per Karlobag.eu, with Leverkusen retaining a buy-back clause — a sensible piece of housekeeping for a young player who needed regular football. More intriguingly, Bulinews reports the club is close to signing two players from Hoffenheim's youth setup, Damar and Erlein, with Wolfsburg competing for the same pair. Nothing has been reported on broader senior recruitment. The front of the attack is where the numbers already work; Christian Kofane and Ernest Poku combined for 11 goals and 17 assists in the Bundesliga last season. across all competitions last season, so the pressure is on the supporting cast to close the gap to the Champions League places — which sit three points above where Leverkusen finished.
Victor Boniface, who does not appear in last season's scoring returns, opened pre-season with a brace in Leverkusen's first friendly, telling Get German Football News that he is feeling sharp — a signal worth tracking given the squad's reliance on Schick as the primary focal point. The first competitive test arrives on 29 August, away to SV Elversberg, and whatever shape the squad takes by then will need to answer one specific question: can Leverkusen convert the kind of individual quality that produced 20-goal Schick seasons into the 65-plus points that separate sixth from a European top three?