“It would be great if we can score that historic goal. It would be the opener and we always look to take the lead.” However: “It will be difficult against Augsburg as they’ve been much more solid in defence over the past few weeks.”
Ahead of the “exciting phase” with the Augsburg-Spiel and the ensuing fixture list starting with home games in the Champions League against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday night and the Bundesliga against FSV Mainz 05, Roger Schmidt declared: “We know what to expect. The sooner our players are on top form, the better our chances of getting something out of those games. But we’re just focussed on FC Augsburg at the moment. After a good final training session we’ll fly to Augsburg and try to influence proceedings there, assert ourselves and come out on top.”
Schmidt sees Augsburg as a “difficult opponent” who “again and again manage to put opponents off their game. We have to take account of how they’ll play and we’ll probably have to defend a lot of high balls. Augsburg have a good target man in Bobadilla who can hold the ball up and lay off to the quick players coming up in support. We’re ready for them.”
Tah, Toprak and Calhanoglu sidelined
There was good news on the injury front for Aleksandar Dragovic: “Aleks has been in full training all week. With him and Tin Jedvaj we have two top players as options in central defence. It’s very important as Jonathan Tah is still injured and Ömer Toprak is suspended.” In addition, Hakan Calhanoglu is also ruled out for the rest of the season. All the other players are fit. There is a question mark over Lars Bender. “Lars had a slight problem after the intense game against Frankfurt caused by his very long injury lay-off. But they are general issues. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if he’s available. I can’t be certain at the moment.”
Bayer 04 and main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer have shown great commitment to the community as the sale of custom-designed T-shirts for charity in the Fanwelt as part of the “BarmeniaGothaer Brings Joy campaign raised a good €5,000. Bayer 04 matched this sum with an equal contribution. As a result, a total of €10,000 was presented to Edmond Tapsoba for his foundation ahead of the home match against Hamburg. The foundation supports people facing challenging daily circumstances in his home country of Burkina Faso.
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Bayer 04 host Hamburg at the BayArena for the first time since September 2017 on the final day of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season on Saturday (15:30 CEST). HSV are safe in their first campaign back in the top flight after back-to-back wins, but Leverkusen are unbeaten in their last 19 games against promoted teams as they go for the victory they need to have a chance to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. There’s also heavy discounts on food and drinks at the BayArena. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 34 fixture in our matchday news.
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As well as previously confirmed departures, Bayer 04 Women will also say goodbye to Vanessa Haim and Shen Menglu before Sunday’s final game of the season at home to Werder Bremen as the pair leave Leverkusen upon the expiration of their contracts.
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The last competitive match of the 2025/26 season takes place at the BayArena on Saturday 16 May (kick-off 15:30 CEST), where Hamburger SV are the visitors. At the pre-match press conference, head coach Kasper Hjulmand discussed the mindset and the approach for the crucial final game against HSV, among other topics.
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