The team under head coach Gerardo Seoane are well and truly back to winning ways: The late victory against Celtic on Thursday night not only saw the Black and Reds win the group with a game to play and secure a slot in the Round of 16. The 3-2 victory was also the third win in the last four games (1 draw). “In comparison with the Bochum match (1-0, ed.) we took a clear step forwards yesterday,” declared Seoane at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. “Above all in being compact at the back. We closed down space well, were aggressive and solid.”
Sunday’s visitors are not the only team in form at the moment. The hosts from Leipzig have recovered in recent weeks. RB made an impressive return to form in the Champions League with a 5-0 runaway win at Club Brugge. Seoane: “That match was enough of a preview. We know what to expect. But we also know we have the players to find the right solutions against them.”
It remains to be seen whether any of the convalescent quartet of Patrik Schick, Lucas Alario, Karim Bellarabi and Charles Aránguiz will be in the squad. “The final decision will be taken on Saturday afternoon in discussion with doctors and the physios,” said Seoane. He did consider including one or the other aforementioned players in the squad for the Europa League match against Celtic but decided against it in the end.
The Werkself are the only team in Germany’s top flight unbeaten on the road. With the first match behind closed doors this term, Lukas Hradecky and Co. will experience new, old circumstances. “Unfortunately, we’ve all been involved in games behind closed doors and we have drawn certain conclusions from those experiences. We’ll get used to it pretty quickly,” declared Seoane. “Of course, it’s a great pity there’ll be no fans at the game. We need them and their emotion.” In view of the precarious situation in Saxony, the Swiss coach said: “It’s clear the public health situation always has to take priority.”
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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After being nominated for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025, Martin Terrier's wonderful strike for the opener against FC Köln is now also up for selection for the ARD Sportschau Goal of the Month award for December 2025. Bayer 04 fans have until 19:00 CET on 10 January to vote for the French forward.
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After a break of almost two weeks, the Bayer 04 Women begin preparing for games in 2026 on Sunday. Bayer04.de provides an overview of the dates at the start of the second half of the season.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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