Actor Palina Rojinski will be helping to make the draw for the 32 first round ties at the German Football Museum in Dortmund from 22.00 CET (live on ARD). In the two draw bowls with professional and lower league clubs there will be 64 teams including Bayer 04 as well as sixth-tier BSC Hastedt and SV Linx the participants lowest in the league pyramid. DFB president Reinhard Grindel will be in charge of the draw and the presenters are Julia Scharf and Arnd Zeigler.
Bayer 04 are in Pot 1 for the first round draw amongst the pro teams, which means the Werkself will definitely play their first competitive match of next season (17 to 20 August) away to a lower league side – last season it was Karlsruher SC (3-0 a.e.t.). All the matches in the DFB Cup will be shown live on Sky. One match on the Monday night will be live on ARD from 20.45 CET.
FC Heidenheim (Bundesliga 2)
FC Köln (Bundesliga 2)
FC Nürnberg (Bundesliga)
FC Union Berlin (Bundesliga 2)
Arminia Bielefeld (Bundesliga 2)
Bayer 04
Bayern Munich (Bundesliga)
Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)
Borussia Mönchengladbach (Bundesliga)
Dynamo Dresden (Bundesliga 2)
Eintracht Frankfurt (Bundesliga, Cup winners)
FC Augsburg (Bundesliga)
FC Ingolstadt (Bundesliga 2)
FC St. Pauli (Bundesliga 2)
Fortuna Düsseldorf (Bundesliga)
FSV Mainz 05 (Bundesliga)
Hamburg SV (Bundesliga 2)
Hannover 96 (Bundesliga)
Hertha BSC (Bundesliga)
Holstein Kiel (Bundesliga 2)
Jahn Regensburg (Bundesliga 2)
MSV Duisburg (Bundesliga 2)
RB Leipzig (Bundesliga)
SC Freiburg (Bundesliga)
Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)
SV Darmstadt (Bundesliga 2)
SV Sandhausen (Bundesliga 2)
TSG Hoffenheim (Bundesliga)
VfB Stuttgart (Bundesliga)
VfL Bochum (Bundesliga 2)
VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga)
Werder Bremen (Bundesliga)
CfR Pforzheim (Oberliga, Finalist in Baden Cup)
FC Kaiserslautern (League 3)
FC Lok Stendal (Oberliga, Finalist in Sachsen Anhalt Cup)
FC Magdeburg (Bundesliga 2)
FC Schweinfurt 05 (Bavarian Regional League, Bavaria Cup winners)
BFC Dynamo (Regional League North, Berlin Cup winners)
BSC Hastedt (Oberliga, Bremen Cup winners)
BSG Chemie Leipzig (Oberliga, Saxony Cup winners)
Carl Zeiss Jena (League 3 Thüringen Cup winners)
Eintracht Braunschweig (League 3)
Energie Cottbus (League 3, Brandenburg Cup winners)
FC Erzgebirge Aue (Bundesliga 2)
Hansa Rostock (League 3, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Cup winners)
Karlsruher SC (League 3)
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (Regional League West, Lower Rhine Cup winners)
SC Paderborn (Bundesliga 2)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth (Bundesliga 2)
SSV Jeddeloh (Regional League North, Finalists in Lower Saxony Cup)
SSV Ulm (Bavaria Regional League, Württemberg Cup winners)
SV Drochtersen/Assel (Regional League North, Finalists in Lower Saxony Cup)
SV Elversberg 07 (Regional League South West, Saarland Cup winners)
SV Linx (Verbandsliga, South Baden Cup winners)
SV Rödinghausen (Regional League West, play-off winners)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden (League 3)
TSV 1860 München (League 3, Bavarian Amateur champions)
TSV Steinbach (Regional League South West, Hessen Cup winners)
TuS Dassendorf (Oberliga, Hamburg Cup winners)
TuS Erndtebrück (Oberliga, Finalist in Westphalia Cup)
Rot-Weiß Koblenz (Oberliga, Rheinland Cup winners)
Viktoria Köln (Regional League West, Middle Rhine Cup winners)
Weiche Flensburg 08 (Regional League North, Schleswig-Holstein Cup winners)
Wormatia Worms (Regional League South West, Southwest Cup winners)
Following the final match of the 2025/26 season, the prevailing feeling was naturally one of disappointment after missing out on qualification for the Champions League. The Werkself finished the Bundesliga in sixth place, meaning they'll start the 2026/27 campaign in the Europa League. "But to talk negatively about everything now because of that would be wrong," stressed captain Robert Andrich following the final game, knowing that the past year at Bayer 04 was marked, more than almost any other, by the start of a new era and the courage to change – and in particular, the belief in a positive direction. Everyone was aware this process would need time. The first part of the 2025/26 season review.
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The Bayer 04 Women’s squad for the coming season is continuing to take shape: Centre-back Emily Wallrabenstein has moved to Leverkusen from Eintracht Frankfurt’s reserve team, who play in the Women’s Bundesliga 2. The 19-year-old has penned a contract until 30 June 2028.
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Bayern 04 Women have confirmed another summer signing, with midfielder Paulina Platner moving to Leverkusen from SGS Essen. The 20-year-old has signed a two-year contract with the Werkself.
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The German Football League (DFL) has shortlisted Martin Terrier’s scorpion kick goal against 1. FC Köln for the 2025/26 Bundesliga Goal of the Season. Bayer 04 fans can vote for their favourite goal via the Bundesliga app from now until Monday 25 May (23:59 CEST).
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Bayer 04 will be preparing young talents for a potential sporting career in an even more systematic way in future. The club is breaking new ground to help develop their academic, social and personal skills as well. With the ‘Haus der Talente' or 'Talent House’, Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH is creating a new centre for the development of young athletes in a central location in Leverkusen. Once completed – expected to be in the summer of 2027 – the project will be run in partnership with TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V.
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