Bayer Leverkusen survived a wild back-and-forth battle to edge out Mainz 05 in a pulsating 4-3 victory on the road during Matchday 7 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga.

Despite the gap in the table, this clash proved once again that there are no easy games in the Bundesliga. Leverkusen, tipped as one of the title contenders, were pushed to the brink by a spirited Mainz side fighting near the bottom.

Álex Grimaldo opened the scoring with a stunning strike before Kofane doubled Leverkusen’s lead. But Jae-sung Lee pulled one back for the hosts, only for Grimaldo to strike again before half-time to complete his brace.

The second half was chaos in motion. Nadiem Amiri brought Mainz within one again, before Martin Terrier restored Bayer’s two-goal cushion. The drama didn’t end there — Sieb made it 3-4 in the 90th minute, but the comeback stopped just short.

2025-26, Germany - Bundesliga

Mainz 05 - Bayer 04 3:4 (1:3)
Goals: Grimaldo, 11 (penalty) (0:1); Kofane, 24 (0:2); Lee Jae-sung, 34 (1:2); Grimaldo, 45 (1:3); Amiri N., 71 (penalty) (2:3); Terrier, 87 (2:4); Sieb A., 90 (3:4)

Mainz 05: Riess L.; Mwene; Bell S. (Hanche-Olsen, 65); da Costa; Sano; Lee Jae-sung (Vick W., 81); Amiri N.; Veratschnig (Nordin, 65); Kohr; Nebel P.; Hollerbach (Sieb A., 86)
Substitution: Hanche-Olsen (from 65); Nordin (from 65); Vick W. (from 81); Sieb A. (from 86)
Bench: Batz; Maloney; Widmer; Kawasaki; Bobzien
Yellow Cards: Kohr 37; Hanche-Olsen 77; Amiri N. 90; Vick W. 90

Bayer 04: Flekken; Badé L.; Tapsoba E.; Arthur Soares; Grimaldo; Fernández Ez.; Hofmann (Maza, 66); Andrich; Aleix Garcia; Poku E. (Ben Seghir, 79); Kofane (Terrier, 79)
Substitution: Maza (from 66); Terrier (from 79); Ben Seghir (from 79)
Bench: Blaswich; Lomb; Belocian; Echeverri
Yellow Cards: Tapsoba E. 68; Grimaldo 68; Badé L. 81; Ben Seghir 83