This time the draw was made by the former Leverkusen women's player Turid Knaak, who played for Bayer 04 from 2011 to 2017. She stood in for Felix Neureuther due to illness. The former Germany international and current goalkeeping coach of the national team, Andreas Köpke, was in charge of the draw.
Rudi Völler: "We are happy to have another home game. VfB Stuttgart not only feels like a first division team of course but they are also an opponent to take seriously and we will need to be on top of our game. But we want to go far in this competition and we are very, very optimistic that we can go through against VfB." The record against VfB in the DFB Cup provides reason to be optimistic. Bayer 04 have always beaten Stuttgart in the cup. And the Werkself progressed to the semi-final stage in 1991/92 and 2002/03.
Sporting director Simon Rolfes was also excited: “A great draw for us. VfB will bring lots of fans and it will be a great cup battle with a guaranteed fantastic atmosphere. Our clear aim is to win this duel and go through to the quarter-finals."
Ticket information will be announced shortly.
Eintracht Frankfurt v RB Leipzig
Bayer 04 v VfB Stuttgart
FC Bayern Munich v TSG Hoffenheim
Schalke 04 v Hertha Berlin
FC Saarbrücken v Karlsruher SC
Werder Bremen v Borussia Dortmund
FC Kaiserslautern v Fortuna Düsseldorf
SC Verl v FC Union Berlin
Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
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