The Werkself will play Hapoel Beer Sheva and Nice for the first time. The only previous meeting with Slavia Prague was in 1992/93 in the group stage of the Intertoto Cup – Bayer 04 won the first leg 3-1 and the second leg ended in a 0-0 draw.
Simon Rolfes: "With Slavia Prague and Nice we’re up against two established European clubs. Opponents we have to take seriously – Slavia are the Czech champions, Nice are a top team from the country of the World Cup winners. On top of that, there's the cup winners from Israel whose qualification for the group stage is perhaps a bit of a surprise. It's clear we have the ambition to go through."
Matchday 1: 22 October 2020
Matchday 2: 29 October 2020
Matchday 3: 5 November 2020
Matchday 4: 26 November 2020
Matchday 5: 3 December 2020
Matchday 6: 10 December 2020
The UEFA Executive Committee decided on Thursday, 1 October to allow a limited number of spectators to attend Europa League matches. At the same time, UEFA referred to the national and regional regulations on staging games during the coronavirus pandemic. Against that background, Bayer 04 are assuming that the capacity of 20 per cent for Bundesliga games will apply to the first home game in October; obviously under the hygiene and organisational concept applied to the Leipzig fixture and the seven-day infection rate in Leverkusen being below 35. The procedure for allocating match tickets will be the same: A ballot will be held amongst season ticket holders with the BundesligaPlus model who have taken out the ‘Draw’ option.
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.
Show more
Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
Show more
The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
Show more
Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
Show more
The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
Show more
