Come on THE Werkself!
A 2-0 defeat at Gladbach, a 3-1 loss at home to Wolfsburg, sixteenth in the table – The Werkself definitely imagined Bundesliga season number 56 would have got off to a different start. Since promotion to Germany's top flight, Bayer 04 have only lost the first two games four times, most recently in 1994/95. That was followed by a clear 4-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt under the then coach Dragoslav Stepanovic. Nevertheless, the Black and Reds could end up bottom of the table for the first time since the 1982/83 campaign (matchday 17). Of the current Bundesliga clubs, there is only one other who have not been bottom for longer: FC Bayern. But nobody at the Werkself is thinking about being eighteenth in the table. "Over the past two weeks, I've tried to turn the focus to this match. My players want to get a result and I can sense their desire. Everybody wants to show what they can do against Bayern and it's up to us to have the right mentality – and now it's down to the players," said Heiko Herrlich at the pre-match press conference on Friday.
Miserable record
Bayer 04 fans need to be thick-skinned to look at the statistics. The Werkself have not lost more often to any other opponent than they have against Bayern Munich. The same applies to the Bundesliga: The Werkself have lost 46 games in 39 years. Bayer 04 have only taken points in a third of the total of 78 meetings. In the 39 away games in Munich to date, Bayer 04 have only picked up points nine times (three wins, six draws) – the last time was on 28 October 2012 with the first win in Munich in 28 years. Stefan Kießling and Sidney Sam found the back of the net in the 2-1 victory. Hopefully, history can repeat itself six years later…
Werkself Past of FCB coaching staff
Since the start of the season, FC Bayern have been managed by Nico Kovac and his brother Robert. Both signed for the Werkself as players in the summer of 1996; Niko stayed until 1999 (77 league appearances, eight goals) and his younger brother Robert played for another two seasons (127 league appearances, one goal). The FCB coaching staff also includes assistant coach Peter Herrman who is an old friend of the Werkself and one of the promotion heroes of 1979. Back to Niko Kovac. As a coach, the 46-year-old Croat has lost four of his five Bundesliga games against Leverkusen – last term there were defeats in both encounters with Heiko Herrlich (0-1 in Frankfurt, 1-4 in Leverkusen). Moreover: Germany keeper Manuel Neuer has not tasted defeat against any other club in the league as often as he has against Bayer 04 (nine times in 21 games).
Tobias Welz The man in the middle
FIFA referee Tobias Welz has been appointed by the DFB to be in charge of today's game. The 41-year-old, born in Wiesbaden, has refereed in the top flight since 2010 clocking up 86 games so far – including nine involving Bayer 04. The Black and Reds won four of them with three draws and two defeats – he has shown yellow cards to Werkself players 15 times but has yet to pull out the red card. He will be assisted by Rafael Foltyn and Dr. Martin Thomsen. The fourth official is Arno Blos and the video referees are Felix Zwayer and Alexander Sather.
Countdown to kick-off
After the final pre-match training session, the Werkself flew out to Munich to the team hotel early on Friday evening. After breakfast on Saturday morning, the Werkself will go for a communal walk before a team meeting after lunch and the drive to the Allianz Arena. The match kicks off at 15.30 CET along with four other afternoon games in the Bundesliga. The Werkself will play in the white away kit for the first time this season with FC Bayern in their red-blue-red kit. According to the weather forecasts, the weather in Munich at the start of the Oktoberfest will be overcast with temperatures around 18 degrees with the possibility of an occasional shower.
#FCBB04 – Get behind the lads
All Bayer 04 fans unable to be at the match are welcome to come to the Schwadbud: the fan pub in the East Stand at the BayArena is open as always for away games so fans can get together to support the lads. The doors open one hour before kick-off at 14.30 CET. Other options for following the Werkself from afar include club communication channels such as the live text commentary on bayer04.de and the acoustic alternative of the Werkself Radio. Other information and key moments in the 90 minutes are also available on our social media channels under the hashtag #FCBB04. So here we go Black and Reds, time to fight and win!
