"An away game at a second division club is a draw we can be happy with," said Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich on Sunday evening shortly after the draw. "However, FC Heidenheim are definitely not to be taken for granted at their own stadium so it will definitely be a challenge for us."
The draw at the German Football Museum in Dortmund was made by the blind footballer Serdal Celebi of FC St. Pauli. The former Germany international of blind football won the August Goal of the Month competition. His strike in the Germany championship final was the first goal of the month to be scored by a blind player. Germany Women's coach Horst Hrubesch was in charge of the draw.
Formed in 2007 as a breakaway from Heidenheimer Sportbund, FC Heidenheim have played in the second division since 2014. Last season, Heidenheim were also in the DFB Cup Round of 16 where they narrowly lost 2-1 to the eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt. Since 2007, the team has been coached by Frank Schmidt who used to play for FC Nürnberg Reserves, Alemannia Aachen and Waldhof Mannheim. "Coach Frank Schmidt has done a great job there for years. We will need to be fully focused at Heidenheim. But it is clear we want to go through to the next round," said Herrlich.
Bayer 04 and FC Heidenheim have never played each other before.
There are big games in the Round of of 16 with Bundesliga clashes of Hertha Berlin against Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund against Werder Bremen. The relegated Bundesliga founders Hamburg SV face FC Nürnberg.
Round of 16 draw in full:
Hamburg SV v FC Nürnberg
FC Heidenheim v Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Schalke 04 v Fortuna Düsseldorf
Holstein Kiel v FC Augsburg
Hertha Berlin v FC Bayern Munich
MSV Duisburg v SC Paderborn
Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen
RB Leipzig v VfL Wolfsburg
High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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Sofie Zdebel is up for the Goal of the Month award for February on ARD-Sportschau. Fans have until 21 March (19:00 CET) to vote for the Germany U23 international's volley to make it 2-0 in the Bayer 04 Women's derby against FC Köln (2-1).
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen are further expanding their partner network: The feed manufacturer PerNaturam is an official sponsor of the Bayer 04 Womens team. The partnership opens up a wide range of opportunities for the company to position its brand in the Bundesliga environment.
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Do you dream of wearing the Bayer cross on your chest? To play in black and red like your role models Loreen Bender, Cornelia Kramer, Kristin Kögel and co. from the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga? Then take your chance now! Our female youth teams are once again on the lookout for new talent. That's why Bayer 04 are organising a talent day on 12 April 2026 for the first time this year with trials for female juniors.
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