Bayer Leverkusen wins 2-1 against 1. FC Köln
1. FC Köln missed out on points before the international break after losing 2-1 to Bayer Leverkusen at the Rhein-Energie-Stadion, express.de reported, following previous matches against Borussia Mönchengladbach and Schalke 04.
And at the end, the Werkself secured the three points.
Aleix García opened the scoring for the visitors in the 7th minute on Sunday, November 8, 2026. Patrik Schick added a second in the 86th minute, leaving Said El Mala’s stoppage-time goal in the 93rd minute as merely a late response for the hosts, coming too late after the 90.+3 minute mark.
Tactical control and midfield dominance
Bayer Leverkusen controlled the match through the play of 20-year-old midfielder Ibrahim Maza, according to reporting from www1.wdr.de. The team of coach Carles Martinez profited repeatedly from outstanding actions by the young player. The Algerian midfielder literally plowed through the midfield, repeatedly taking several opponents out of the game defensively with his pace and bite or leaving them behind with great offensive dribblings.
Köln struggled to utilize Said El Mala as an attacking weapon because Leverkusen defenders Jarell Quansah and Edmond Tapsoba consistently doubled up on him. Meanwhile, striker Marius Bülter remained largely ineffective through the center, remaining virtually ineffectual in the center-forward position.
Physical second half and VAR decisions
Kölns Mikey Moore brauchte nach dem Seitenwechsel genau vier Sekunden, um Medina mit einem Bodycheck abzuräumen und die Gelbe Karte zu sehen, während Sebastian Sebulonsen zuvor in der 10. Minute an Mark Flekkens Fußabwehr gescheitert war und Bayers Druckphase sowie nahezu jede Torgefahr erst einmal vorbei waren, bis das Spiel bis zur Pause vor allem von Zweikämpfen bestimmt wurde, da die Kölner in der Pause offenbar den Auftrag erhalten hatten, etwas intensiver zur Sache zu gehen.
Referee Felix Zwayer consulted the video assistant referee and chose not to penalize the action, calming the situation after a lengthy stoppage following a heated scrum between both teams where Köln demanded a penalty and the Bayer bench demanded a second yellow card for an alleged dive by Moore before Zwayer routinely calmed the situation after a minute-long interruption and tempers cooled while the footballing-wise more talented visiting players took over again.
Late goals seal the result
Despite increased physical pressure from Köln after the break, Leverkusen created the clearer chances through a shot from the inside of the foot from nearly 20 meters by Tillman that slipped past only razor-thinly to the lower left in the 55th minute, an effort by Alfonso Moreira on the short corner that was saved with lightning-fast reactions by FC keeper Marvin Schwäbe in the 60th minute, and a shot two minutes later where Schick also failed to beat the increasingly grasping Köln goalkeeper.
Schick eventually secured the victory for the visitors late in the match before El Mala scored in added time to finalize the 2-1 scoreline, though the FC missed the chance to say goodbye to the international break with a good impression.
