“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.”
There won’t just be plenty of excitement on the pitch as Bayer 04 host Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena at 18:30 CET on Saturday. Outside the stadium there will be collection points for food donations to the Leverkusen Foodbank, which will also benefit from the profits of a jersey raffle in the Fanwelt afterwards. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off following the passing of long-time Werkself player Dieter Herzog, before two fan clubs are honoured for their decades-long support at half-time and fans receive a talk about Orange Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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Bayer 04 go into the first of two successive clashes with Borussia Dortmund boosted by their Champions League win at Manchester City. Ahead of the Bundesliga top match on Saturday, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the tight schedule, BVB's strengths and returning squad members.
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Borussia Dortmund are doing very well in terms of points and results in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. BVB have only suffered two defeats to date this term. Now coach Niko Kovac's team are away to the Werkself on Saturday night, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET) in the top match on Bundesliga matchday 12. The two teams meet again three days later in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie in Dortmund. Two very competitive encounters are on the cards. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Bayer 04 Women clcoked up a 3-2 win in a friendly against Twente Enschede on Thursday afternoon in the last international break of 2025. In drizzle, Lilla Turanyi (16’), Kristin Kögel (65’) and Paulina Bartz (69’) scored the goals for the Werkself against the Dutch Eredivisie Vrouwen leaders, who are still unbeaten in the league.
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