Bayer Leverkusen Rise into Bundesliga Top Four with Confident Win Over 10-Man Freiburg

Bayer Leverkusen climbed into the Bundesliga’s top four after a composed 2–0 victory over Freiburg at the BayArena, extending their unbeaten head-to-head streak against the visitors to six matches (W4, D2).

After suffering a bruising 7–2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League midweek, Leverkusen faced early pressure from Freiburg. Mark Flekken was called into action twice within the opening five minutes, denying Derry Scherhant and Junior Adamu with sharp saves at his near post. At the other end, Christian Kofane headed narrowly over as both sides traded early blows.

Leverkusen gradually settled into their rhythm and took a deserved lead midway through the first half. Ernest Poku exchanged a neat one-two with Aleix Garcia before drilling a low strike into the bottom corner from distance to make it 1–0.

Freiburg’s best chance before the interval came from a Scherhant free-kick that curled just wide, but they remained hopeful given that both sides had scored in each of their previous ten meetings.

Those hopes faded soon after the restart. Just seven minutes into the second half, Alejandro Grimaldo delivered a precise cross from the right that Edmond Tapsoba met with a thumping header — his first home league goal since January 2023 — to double Leverkusen’s advantage.

Freiburg’s afternoon went from bad to worse when Philipp Lienhart received a second yellow card for a trip on the right flank, reducing the visitors to ten men. From there, Leverkusen cruised to victory, extending their unbeaten Bundesliga run under Kasper Hjulmand to six matches and registering four consecutive league wins for the first time since January.

Freiburg, meanwhile, suffered their first defeat in nine games across all competitions and now find themselves in the bottom half of the table after going four Bundesliga matches without a win.