As one of the four weaker teams from the Champions League and the part of unseeded sides, Leverkusen will play one of these seeded teams in the Round of 32: Ajax, Inter Milan, Benfica, RB Salzburg, Sevilla, Espanol, Manchester United, Arsenal, Celtic, FC Basel, FC Porto, Sporting Braga, LASK Linz, Basaksehir, KAA Gent and Malmö.
The Werkself will play the first leg at the BayArena as the seeded teams are at home in the second leg. Teams from the same association or the same group cannot play each other. The last appearance of Leverkusen in the Europa League was ten months ago: Bayer 04 were knocked out in the Round of 32 by FK Krasnodar after two draws (0-0, 1-1).
Before that, there is the derby in Cologne on Saturday 14 December (kick-off: 15.30 CET). Bundesliga referee Manuel Gräfe has been appointed for this game. The 46-year-old Berliner will officiate his 26th match involving Bayer 04. In the previous 25 games under Gräfe, Leverkusen won 15 times with four draws and six defeats: In those games, the long-standing FIFA referee showed 47 yellow and five red cards to Werkself players.
One thing is clear: Referee Gräfe will have the longest journey to Saturday's match of anybody involved on the pitch – and that by a long way. While Cologne and the capital are over 500 kilometres apart, the home grounds of FC Köln and Bayer 04 are just 14.66 kilometres apart as the crow flies. That's the shortest distance between two grounds in the Bundesliga. Not even the stadiums of the two Berlin clubs Hertha and Union come close to that figure with a distance of 23.09 kilometres.
The former Bayer 04 player Michal Kadlec today (Friday 13 December) celebrates his 35th birthday. The Czech Republic international, with 67 caps, wore the Werkself shirt from 2008 to 2013. During that time, the left-back played 158 competitive matches scoring 14 goals and providing 15 assists. Bayer 04 wish him many happy returns on his birthday.
The Werkself first teamer Kai Havertz is among 55 players nominated for the FIFA 20 Team of the Year. Fans will have the opportunity to pick their team of the year. In addition to the Leverkusen player, the nominees include world stars like Virgil van Dijk, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo. The final line-up will be announced in January. You can vote here.
There won’t just be plenty of excitement on the pitch as Bayer 04 host Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena at 18:30 CET on Saturday. Outside the stadium there will be collection points for food donations to the Leverkusen Foodbank, which will also benefit from the profits of a jersey raffle in the Fanwelt afterwards. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off following the passing of long-time Werkself player Dieter Herzog, before two fan clubs are honoured for their decades-long support at half-time and fans receive a talk about Orange Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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Bayer 04 go into the first of two successive clashes with Borussia Dortmund boosted by their Champions League win at Manchester City. Ahead of the Bundesliga top match on Saturday, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the tight schedule, BVB's strengths and returning squad members.
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Borussia Dortmund are doing very well in terms of points and results in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. BVB have only suffered two defeats to date this term. Now coach Niko Kovac's team are away to the Werkself on Saturday night, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET) in the top match on Bundesliga matchday 12. The two teams meet again three days later in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie in Dortmund. Two very competitive encounters are on the cards. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Bayer 04 Women clcoked up a 3-2 win in a friendly against Twente Enschede on Thursday afternoon in the last international break of 2025. In drizzle, Lilla Turanyi (16’), Kristin Kögel (65’) and Paulina Bartz (69’) scored the goals for the Werkself against the Dutch Eredivisie Vrouwen leaders, who are still unbeaten in the league.
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