
It is now established during the current campaign: Whenever there is an international break, the Werkself take the opportunity to play a friendly at the Haberland Stadium – and viewers of bayer04.de and Facebook can follow the match live at home on the PC or on smartphones. That will happen again in two weeks time: The Werkself entertain second division VfL Bochum in the shadows of the Bay Arena on Thursday 22 March. The game at the Haberland Stadium kicks off at 15.00 CET and entrance is free of charge.
The match takes place in the week after the derby at FC Köln (18 March) and ahead of the home game against FC Augsburg (31 March). The international players will be away with their respective national sides and the rest of the squad will take part in a practice match against a club from a lower league – which always provides head coach Heiko Herrlich the chance to give players time on the pitch who don't regularly play in competitive fixtures. The meeting with Bochum will be the second time the Black and Reds have faced the Blue and Whites this term: Bayer 04 played VfL in the first international break of the 2017/18 season on 31 August last year – with Bochum coming out on top in a 2-1 win with goals from Lukas Hinterseer and Johannes Wurtz. Marlon Frey scored the goal for the Werkself.
This will be the eighth friendly of the season for Bayer 04 at the Haberland Stadium following on from games against Bochum, Fortuna Köln, MSV Duisburg, SpVgg Greuther Fürth, Preußen Münster, SF Lotte and Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. The duel with VfL also brings a reunion with Robin Dutt: The former Werkself coach (2011 to April 2012) recently took over the helm at Bochum and he has been brought in ensure that VfL win the battle to avoid relegation and stay in the second division.

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Bayer 04’s eight opponents in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League have been confirmed. At the draw on Friday 28 August held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the Werkself were drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots. There are a total of four home and four away matches. Read on for details of opponents and fixture dates.
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In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-3 loss at SV 07 Elversberg on Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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