Lars Bender was visibly happy at the prospect of tomorrow's game. The Werkself skipper made his views clear at the press conference: "We've worked hard to get back into the Champions League. That's why we want to make tomorrow night a great one."
Roger Schmidt adopted the same position and recalled the frenetic end to the second half of last campaign that meant not having to take part in the play-offs. "Since the referee blew for full-time against Hertha we have been looking forward to it and now it's finally here," said Schmidt who has been forced into making some changes.
Schmidt: "Volland an option"
Karim Bellarabi is ruled out of Wednesday's game after suffering a groin injury in the Hamburg match at the weekend and the same applies to Vladlen Yurchenko (hairline fracture to fibula). "Otherwise everybody else is available," said Schmidt. New signing Aleksandar Dragovic was joined by Stephan Kießling, Charles Aranguiz and Kevin Volland at the final pre-match training session. "Kevin had physical contact with his arm in training and he felt comfortable. He's an option for the squad," said Schmidt.
Joel Pohjanpalo is another obvious candidate. The hat-trick hero from the Hamburg match, who celebrated his 22nd birthday on Tuesday, can be hopeful of being in the starting eleven. "Joel is a player who can play from the start in the Champions League – nothing can be ruled out," said Schmidt.
The match will be refereed by the Italian Daniele Orsato and 25,000 tickets have been sold so far. The remaining tickets go on sale when the gates are opened tomorrow night and Bayer 04 would like to remind supporters that large bags and rucksacks are not allowed in the stadium at Champions League matches
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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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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