
Parallel to the late Wednesday night game at Gladbach's Borussia Park (live on Sky) there is the tie between TSG Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig that will be broadcast on terrestrial TV. FC Köln entertain FC Schalke 04 earlier at 18.30 CET, which means there may well be heavier traffic on the way to Mönchengladbach. Supporters are advised to set off in good time.
Tickets are already on sale to Club members and Bayer 04 fans who have previously bought tickets. Bayer 04 supporters have until 24 October to secure tickets for the Werkself DFB Cup second round tie before advance ticket sales end.
DFB Cup second round draw:
SSV Ulm v Fortuna Düsseldorf
Darmstadt 98 v Hertha BSC
BSG Chemie Leipzig v SC Paderborn
Hannover 96 v VfL Wolfsburg (all on Tuesday 30 October at 18.30 CET)
FC Heidenheim v SV Sandhausen
Wehen Wiesbaden v Hamburg SV
FC Augsburg v FSV Mainz 05
SV Rödinghausen v Bayern Munich (all Tuesday 30 October at 20.45 CET)
FC Köln v Schalke 04
Borussia Dortmund v Union Berlin
SC Weiche Flensburg v Werder Bremen
Hansa Rostock v FC Nürnberg (all Wednesday 31 October at 18.30 CET)
Borussia Mönchengladbach v Bayer 04
Holstein Kiel v SC Freiburg
Arminia Bielefeld v MSV Duisburg
Rasenball Leipzig v TSG Hoffenheim (all Wednesday 31 October at 20.45 CET)


Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
Show more
Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
Show more
Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
Show more
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 personal 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…
Show more