Just nine days separate the 2-1 defeat in Frankfurt in the first Bundesliga fixture in the New Year and the DFB Cup clash with Eintracht Frankfurt, which was moved from the end of December to 12 January at the request of Bayer 04. “The short period of time between the two is obviously unusual,” said Peter Bosz at the pre-match press conference on Monday and then he moved onto his analysis of the opponents. The 56-year-old added: “We’re up against a very good opponent. Of course, I don’t know what Adi Hütter (Eintracht Frankfurt, ed.) is intending to do but I can imagine they will try to play the same way they did two weeks ago – they did very well. But even more important is the way we play.”
In terms of their own game, Bosz sees a need for improvement for his team “in using the pitch” compared with the Bundesliga defeat at Eintracht. “That’s why we found it so difficult to play good football. We want to do better now,” said the head coach.
Bosz has the same players available for the second round tie as in the 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen on Saturday. “Florian Wirtz will be rested again tomorrow,” declared the Dutchman. The experienced Lars Bender, who made a 30-minute appearance against Werder Bremen following his recent injury, is again available. So there are no changes to the squad compared with the Bremen game.
For Bayer 04, the cup competition is “very important. The route is short. We saw what it’s like to be in the final last year. And when you play in a final then you also want and have to win it. And that’s what we want to do this time,” said Bosz.
A win against Eintracht Frankfurt would see the Werkself play at Regional League Rot-Weiss Essen in the Round of 16 in the DFB Cup. “To be honest: I only found out who our next opponents will be if we beat Frankfurt two days ago,” Bosz said. “But there’s no sense thinking about the next opponent if you don’t go through. So our full focus is on Eintracht Frankfurt first.”
Match info:
Broadcaster: Sky and Werks11 Radio
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the day of the game
Ahead of Bayer 04's Europa League match away to OFI Crete in Greece, defender Jarell Quansah spoke to Werkself-TV...
Show more
It couldn't have been any tighter! Despite winning four of six games in the online preliminary round in Showdown 1 of the VBL Club Championship 2026/27, Leverkusen eSports duo Marc and Sean Landwehr didn't make it through to the offline knockout round. Level on points (12) with seven other teams, Leverkusen were the only team with this points tally not to progress as they had the worst single-game record compared to their rivals.
Show more
He's one of the leading figures of Leverkusen and the German economy: Werner Wenning rose from an apprentice at Bayer 04 to CEO of the global company. A childhood Werkself fan, he has held a position of responsibility at the club for many years as chairman of the shareholder committee of Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH. Today the Leverkusen native celebrates his 80th birthday. The entire Bayer 04 family offers its warmest wishes!
Show more
Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
Show more
