Bayer Leverkusen overturned an early deficit to defeat Freiburg 2-1 on Sunday, with Ibrahim Maza and Patrik Schick both contributing a goal and an assist.
The result kept Martinez’s side close to the Bundesliga’s early leaders. Leverkusen moved to within one point of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, while drawing level with Freiburg.
Freiburg took the lead after 14 minutes. Philipp Treu’s cross found Derry Scherhant unmarked, and he finished first time through Mark Flekken’s legs.
Leverkusen responded five minutes later with a flowing attacking move. Moussa Diaby supplied a clever flick before Schick produced an excellent back-heel, allowing Maza to drive a low shot into the bottom corner and make it 1-1.
Schick came close to completing the turnaround in the 38th minute, but his header went wide. Freiburg had an opportunity of their own soon afterwards when Keisuke Goto failed to convert a similar chance.
Scherhant then created two openings for Igor Matanovic, but the Freiburg striker was unable to trouble Flekken with either close-range header. At the other end, Maximilian Eggestein saw a well-struck left-footed effort tipped away by the Leverkusen goalkeeper at the final moment.
Leverkusen finally went ahead with 14 minutes remaining. Maza showed impressive skill on the right before setting up Schick, who kept his composure to slot the ball past Mio Backhaus from close range.
Backhaus denied Maza a second goal late on by parrying his powerful effort, then prevented Schick from adding another when he saved an ambitious long-range attempt.
Schick extends remarkable scoring run
Leverkusen and Freiburg have both scored in all six of their Bundesliga matches this season, but Leverkusen’s attacking form has been driven particularly by Schick.
The forward is now joint top of the Bundesliga scoring chart with Niclas Fullkrug of Werder Bremen, with both players on six goals. Schick has scored in each of his first six top-flight appearances in 2026-27.
He is only the third player to find the net in each of the opening six matchdays of a Bundesliga season. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang achieved the feat for Dortmund in 2015-16, while Robert Lewandowski did so with Bayern in 2019-20.
Leverkusen’s comeback also underlined their ability to recover from losing positions. They have taken four points from such situations in the Bundesliga this season, with only Bremen doing better on six.
The home side were deserved winners according to the underlying numbers, recording 1.63 expected goals (xG) from 12 shots. Freiburg produced 1.06 xG from 11 attempts.
