
The game will be refereed by Dr Jochen Drees. The 46-year-old doctor will be assisted by Rafael Foltyn and Christian Gittelmann. The fourth official is Florian Heft.
Previous meetings
The Werkself have performed well in the last 15 meetings with Hamburg SV with the games producing eight wins, five draws and just two defeats. Let's hope the positive record continues.
Worst Bundesliga start for HSV
Hamburg have made their worst ever start to a campaign this term with just 13 points from 18 games putting them in the drop zone. For the first time ever, HSV have lost 11 of their first 18 matches.
Poor home form v. strong away form
Hamburg have only collected eight points from eight home games - the worst home form in the Bundesliga. HSV did pick up seven points from the last three home games in 2016. On the other hand, there is the strength of Bayer 04 on the road: The Werkself have scored in all of the last 20 Bundesliga fixtures away from home, scoring 32 goals along the way. That equals the club record from the years 1987 and 1988.
Papadopoulos in an HSV shirt
Kyriakos Papadopoulos has joined Hamburg SV on loan from Bayer 04. The Greek defender could face his former Werkself team-mates in his third outing for Hamburg. "It will definitely be very special playing against former team-mates but I'll put that out of my mind for the 90 minutes," said the 24-year-old defender looking forward to Friday night. Of the current HSV squad, Papadopoulos is the only one to have a positive record against Bayer 04 (three wins, two defeats).
Kießling record against Markus Gisdol
Stefan Kießling also has a good record – against HSV coach Markus Gisdol. Kieß has scored in all six Bundesliga games against the coach with a total of seven strikes making the Werkself an unpopular opponent for Gisdol. He has not lost against any other team in the Bundesliga as often as against Bayer 04.
The Schwadbud is open
Any fans not making the journey north are welcome at the Schwadbud on Friday night from 19.30 CET with the match broadcast live on 20 screens. The popular fan pub enables fans to get together to cheer on the Werkself. Tables can't be reserved so it's a matter of first come, first served.


Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss at VfL Wolfsburg on the 20th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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