The cup tie in Leverkusen a day before Christmas Eve represents the end of an unusual year of competitive football for the Red and Blacks. One curious fact: While the Werkself have played the Eagles 70 times in the league, this is only the second meeting in the DFB Cup. All Bayer 04 supporters will remember the first: Eintracht and Bayer 04 faced each other at the semi-final stage in 1993. In what was considered to be the supposed final, the Werkself won 3-0 with goals from Andreas Thom (2) and Ulf Kirsten. Bayer 04 went on to win the DFB Cup for the first time against the Hertha Berlin Reserves with Kirsten scoring the only goal of the game.
The two Bundesliga games ahead of the cup tie against Eintracht also promise to be entertaining encounters: On Wednesday 16 December (kick-off: 20.30 CET) Bayer 04 are away to Rhine rivals FC Köln. And Bayern Munich visit the BayArena on the weekend of 19/20 December.
After a few days of a well-earned 'winter break', the opponents for the Werkself are again Eintracht Frankfurt – albeit in another competition. The team under head coach Peter Bosz are away to Eintracht on Bundesliga matchday 14 on the first weekend of 2021 (2/3 January) .
The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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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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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 on Matchday 24 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
A late goal secured a point for Bayer 04 at home to FSV Mainz 05 in a match that saw the Black and Reds dominant in the second half. Despite lots of possession, the Werkself initially found few gaps and fell behind after 67 minutes when Sheraldo Becker scored in a Mainz counter-attack. In the closing stages, Leverkusen threw everything forward once again and equalised through Jarell Quansah (88').
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