Setback for our number 11: Nadiem Amiri suffered a shoulder injury in the home game against the team from Berlin. The Germany international, who had to be substituted at half-time due to the injury, will now start rehab at the Werkstatt in the BayArena.
Amiri's teammate Karim Bellarabi was not only able to celebrate equalising at 1-1 and his assist to make it 3-1, but he was also named Man of the Match. With half of all the votes in the DFB poll, the 29-year-old came top ahead of Union’s Markus Ingvartsen and yesterday's Werkself captain Kai Havertz.
Bayer 04 fans shared that view on Twitter: Over 41% voted substitute Bellarabi as the Man of the Match. That put Bellarabi ahead of Charles Aránguiz (25.4%) and Moussa Diaby (23.4%). Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky on Bellarabi's nomination: "He deserved to be the Man of the Match!"
After coming on for the second half, Werkself winger Moussa Diaby really shone in the DFB Cup quarter-final against Union Berlin. The new dad – his son Ismail is one week old – treated himself to the goal to make it 3-1 (90+1'). And a suitable celebration obviously had to follow (see photo).
An average of one million viewers (market share of 3.9%) watched the quarter-final game between the Werkself and Union Berlin on the free to air TV channel Sport1. At its peak, 1.4 million viewers switched on to Sport1. The highlights of the game on ARD at 23.00 CET were watched by 3.57 million viewers (market share of 20%).
Who the Werkself will play in the DFB Cup semi-finals will be revealed on Sunday night from 18.00 CET on the ARD Sportschau, which will be broadcast live from the German Football Museum in Dortmund. Bayer 04 goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky has expressed a wish for Germany women’s goalkeeper Almuth Schult who is making the draw: "Who do I want? Anyone but Bayern away." The Werkself and FC Bayern are joined in the draw by Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt and Regional League FC Saarbrücken. The latter are the first fourth division side in a DFB Cup semi-final – and they will be at home.
The initial fear that the former Bayer 04 central defender Ömer Toprak had suffered a fracture of the fibula was happily not confirmed. The 30-year-old Werder Bremen defender was fouled by Filip Kostic (90+1') in last night’s 2-0 defeat in the DFB Cup quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt. The Serbian was sent off while Toprak was carried off the pitch on a stretcher. An exact diagnosis has been confirmed: The Turk suffered a lacerated and contused wound to his calf. Toprak made 203 appearances for the Black and Reds between 2011 and 2017. He scored seven goals and provided five assists along the way. Bayer 04 wish him a speedy recovery and a quick comeback.
The Werkself are back in action on Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET) in a Bundesliga fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt: The BayArena will be bursting at the seams with the Werkself in such good form – and one or two goals appear guaranteed. At least if you believe the statistics: Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer 04 have played each other 69 times in the Bundesliga and there has never been a 0-0 draw – a Bundesliga record.
Freiburg’s defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend left them two places but a whole 10 points behind Bayer 04. Their results in general may be mixed, but Julian Schuster’s side are a force to be reckoned with at home, where they have earned 24 of their 33 points. Leverkusen may choose to look for the aerial route if they’re to get the better of their hosts, who have conceded more headed goals than any other team. Here’s all you need to know ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game in our matchday news.
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A boost for the second Bundesliga away game in a row: The Werkself take on SC Freiburg just three days after the convincing 1-0 win at Hamburger SV. Ahead of the game on Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the lessons learned from the rearranged fixture at HSV, a trio on yellow cards and young players like Christian Kofane and Montrell Culbreath.
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SC Freiburg suffered their eighth away defeat of the season in Frankfurt last weekend. But at home, at the Europa Park Stadion, coach Julian Schuster's team are clocking up one win after the next. SCF are unbeaten in the last 16 matches at home. On Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET), they will be looking to keep the run going in the clash with the Werkself. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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For the third time in a row, the Leverkusen eSports players have made it through to the final round of the VBL Club Championship. From 7 to 8 March, they will compete for the German Club Championship at XPERION in Hamburg. At the start of the final round, they face Hamburger SV in the Round of 16. The match starts at 19:30 CET on Saturday, 7 March and will be broadcast live on the VBL Twitch channel. The eSports preview.
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The German Football League (DFL) has scheduled Matchdays 28 to 30 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The fixtures at a glance.
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