
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

Bayer 04 host 1. FC Köln at the BayArena in the final home game of 2025 . Today’s match on Saturday, 13 December kicks off at 18:30.30 pm. The Werkself are looking for three points against 1. FC Köln, who are without a win in four games but they do have a shooting star in their ranks up front. The Bayer 04 Volunteering Award will be presented at the derby against the club from Cologne and another fan club will be honoured for many years of loyalty under the Cross. The matchday news.
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The German Football Association (DFB) has officially recognised Bayer 04 as a women’s talent support centre. As announced by the DFB, 1 FC Köln, Union Berlin, RB Leipzig and Hamburger SV are also certified as performance or talent support centres from 1 January 2026 in addition to the Werkself.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 0-1 loss at Werder Bremen on the 13th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Bayer 04 Women suffered a setback at the halfway point of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. In a battle of the chasing pack between the teams in third and fourth, coach Roberto Pätzold's side lost 1-0 at SV Werder Bremen in a physical contest. The result leaves the Werkself on 22 points after 13 matchdays and now four points behind Bremen.
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The Bayer 04 U19s will face Villarreal CF in Spain in the 2025/26 UEFA Youth League round of 16. That was the result of the draw made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday afternoon.
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