Basaksehir, managed by the former Turkey coach Abdullah Avci, have experienced a massive upturn in fortune over recent years and have broken into the leading group of the big three Istanbul clubs Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas. Last term's Süper Lig saw them finish third just three points behind champions Galatasaray and this September they are in the UEFA Europa League along with Bayer 04. Before that, they were runners-up once and finished fourth twice.
The squad has a number of internationally experienced pros: Goalkeeper Volkan Babacan, Arda Turan (100 internationals for Turkey and previously in Spain at Barcelona and Atlético Madrid), Emre (95 international caps for Turkey), Gökhan Inler (89 caps for Switzerland), Gael Clichy (18 internationals for France) and the Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor, top scorer for Basaksehirs last season with 15 goals and for many years in the Premier League at Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Arsenal. Familiar faces from the Bundesliga are the Serb Milos Jojic, signed this week from FC Köln, the Brazilian Junior Caicara (Schalke 04) plus Eljero Elia, who played for Werder Bremen and Hamburg.
Before that, Bayer 04 have friendly fixtures against SV Roßbach (18 July), Sportfreunde Siegen (21 July), Wuppertaler SV (24 July) and Fortuna Sittard (28 July). Following the training camp in Austria there is a match against Valencia (11 August).
Bayer 04 can go through to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the ninth time tonight, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET) and be in the top 16 clubs in Europe. A good omen: Leverkusen have progressed to the next round after winning the first leg in 20 of their 22 knockout rounds in European competitions to date. For their part, Greek record champions Olympiacos rested several players for last weekend’s league fixture ahead of the play-off second leg at the BayArena and will now do everything in their power to turn the tide with their usual aggressive and high pressing. The discussions on Werkself radio are likely to be just as intense as the battle on the pitch, with commentator Florian Bechholz welcoming honorary captain Stefan Kießling and goalkeeper Mark Flekken. Today’s matchday news.
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With the advantage of the 2-0 first-leg win in the play-offs, the Werkself are looking to book their place in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League at the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the home game against Olympiacos on Tuesday, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand and goalkeeper Janis Blaswich spoke about the position ahead of the match, the visitors' strength at set-pieces and a personnel issue for the home side.
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With a win in the Greek Super League last weekend, Olympiacos achieved success on the pitch ahead of the UEFA Champions League play-off second leg at Bayer 04 on Tuesday, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET). Coach José Luis Mendilibar rested many of his regular starters.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 0-1 loss against TSG Hoffenheim on the 19th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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