Bayer Leverkusen missed a crucial opportunity to close the gap on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich, suffering a 2-0 defeat to Werder Bremen at the BayArena.
The loss marked their first consecutive defeats since May 2023.
Ironically, it was in this same fixture last season that Leverkusen secured the Bundesliga title with a resounding 5-0 win.
Florian Wirtz, who netted a hat-trick on that occasion, started on the bench as Xabi Alonso opted to rotate his squad ahead of their upcoming UEFA Champions League showdown with Bayern.
However, the changes disrupted Leverkusen’s rhythm, leading to a lackluster first-half display.
Bremen, despite their struggles in recent weeks, needed just seven minutes to take advantage. Andre Silva combined well with Jens Stage, who expertly set up Romano Schmid to tap in his second goal of the season, the first also coming against Leverkusen in the reverse fixture.
Leverkusen’s struggles in attack were evident, failing to register a single shot by the 20th minute. Their first meaningful attempt came when Emiliano Buendia’s low strike was comfortably stopped by Michael Zetterer.
Aleix Garcia came closest to equalizing in first-half stoppage time, only for his free-kick to rattle the crossbar.
Bremen thought they had doubled their advantage before the break when Milos Veljkovic bundled the ball into the net, but the offside flag cut short their celebrations.
Unhappy with what he saw, Xabi Alonso made three changes at halftime, including introducing Wirtz. However, the playmaker’s impact was short-lived as he was forced off injured less than 15 minutes later following a heavy challenge from Mitchell Weiser.
The hosts continued to struggle in attack, failing to register a shot in the first 20 minutes of the second half. Encouraged by the news that Bayern were trailing Bochum, Leverkusen finally found some urgency, with Exequiel Palacios leading the charge.
The Argentine midfielder drove forward and unleashed a low shot that Zetterer pushed around the post before testing the Bremen keeper again with a curling effort moments later.
Unlike last season, when they produced dramatic late comebacks, Leverkusen found no such inspiration this time. Their faint hopes of rescuing a result were extinguished in stoppage time when Justin Njinmah calmly slotted home from Keke Topp’s cutback, securing Bremen’s second victory in 11 matches in 2025.
It was also only their second win in 16 meetings against Leverkusen, who remain eight points behind Bayern. With a crucial clash against the league leaders looming in midweek, Die Werkself will need a swift response after seeing their 12-match Bundesliga home unbeaten streak come to an end.
