The Werkself head coach experienced on the opening day of the league campaign how the newly promoted club surprised Bayer 04 with a passionate performance at the BayArena. The encounter on matchday one saw Bayer 04 win 3-2 – at the same time Paderborn did not make it easy for the Werkself as Bosz recalls: "We did win but the game was very open. It was an attractive match for the fans but I'd have liked more control as the coach." His team has developed since the meeting in the middle of August but it definitely won't be any easier.
On top of that, there is a run of five games without a win. "We can't afford to let it get to us. We are making mistakes and we have to learn from them but we're also doing a lot of things right. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to create as many chances. You can never get everything right in football but we can do more things better. We need to be more decisive, particularly in the final third," declared the 55-year-old ahead of the first meeting with Paderborn in the domestic cup competition and he once again stressed what it would come down to: "We have to have control – that's very important when you're playing an attacking game. Otherwise it will be an end-to-end encounter."
The Werkself have reached the Round of 16 in six of the last seven DFB Cup campaigns and will be expecting to go through this time too: "We have to win tomorrow's game. The DFB Cup is very important to the club, to me and to us all," emphasised the head coach but he also sounded a warning about Paderborn who had a boost at the weekend. After beating SV Rödinghausen in the first round of the DFB Cup, SCP clocked up their second win of the season. "We won't underestimate Paderborn. They are a good and dangerous team who've shown the right mentality in recent games and they always look to get forward. They'll try that again tomorrow," said Bosz with confidence.
Bosz was waiting until after the final pre-match training session before choosing his team – that will also depend on the availability of Kai Havertz, who is recovering from illness and Sven Bender, who suffered another problem with his ankle that saw him substituted against Werder on Saturday. With Wendell, "that's not the case," said the Dutchman who will also have to manage without Charles Aránguiz, Daley Sinkgraven and Leon Bailey.
Match information:
Tickets: Tickets are still available for the game – ticket offices are open two hours before kick-off-off. Print@home tickets are also available.
Referee: Sven Jablonski (Bremen)
Live TV broadcaster: Sky
Matchday hashtag: #B04SCP
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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