
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.

After the 4-0 win at SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the DFB Pokal, goalscorers Lucas Vázquez and Nathan Tella spoke to Werkself-TV...
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 4-0 win at Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the DFB-Pokal 2026/27...
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Bayer 04 have comfortably reached the DFB Pokal second round thanks to a 4–0 victory away to Liga 3 side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Patrik Schick put the Werkself ahead in the first 45 in the first competitive match under head coach Carles Martínez with debuts for new signings Miguel Gutiérrez, Afonso Moreira and Facundo Medina. After the break, Lucas Vázquez (47'), Nathan Tella (69') and Christian Kofane (79') also found the back of the net.
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Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
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