The German Football Association (DFB) have appointed FIFA referee Marco Fritz from Korb as today's match referee. His assistants are Dominik Schaal and Marcel Pelgrim. The fourth official is Florian Badstübner and Harm Osmers is the VAR.
This is Bundesliga match number seven for Fritz this season. He has been in charge of 18 Werkself games in the league with the Black and Reds winning 10 (3 draws, 5 defeats).
A total of 15,000 spectators are permitted to attend today's game at the Deutsche Bank Park. 535 tickets have been sold in the away end. Dear Bayer 04 fans, it's great to see you with the Werkself in the penultimate away game in 2021.
The Werkself go into the game against Eintracht Frankfurt as the closest challengers to the leading duo from Munich and Dortmund. The third-placed Seoane team currently have 27 points. The hosts have 18 points in twelfth position. December has brought a 3-2 defeat for the Eagles in the league against TSG Hoffenheim and on Thursday there was a 1-1 draw in the final Europa League group match at Fenerbahce.
In the summer of 2001, the then eight-year-old Danny da Costa joined Bayer 04. He was with the Black and Reds for 11 years before moving out on a two-year loan deal at FC Ingolstadt. In 2014, he decided to sign for FCI – and two years later it was back to Leverkusen. The right-back had his last season in Black and Red in 2016/17. Since then, he has played for the Eagles. We look forward to the reunion.
Norbert Sobbe was at the Werkself for two seasons. Signed from MSV Duisburg in 1974, the striker made 15 appearances in the Bundesliga 2 North. Sobbe then joined FC Viersen two years later. Today he celebrates his 68th birthday. Many happy returns.
After their first win on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase, Olympiacos are still in with a good chance of reaching the play-offs in the UEFA Champions League. The 2024 UEFA Conference League winners will be looking to go one better in their home match against Bayer 04 this Tuesday, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), but their stop scorer is unavailable. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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