The players, coaches and staff met up early in the morning at the BayArena for a communal breakfast. Then it was off to Cologne/Bonn Airport with flight X3 8904 taking off from German soil at exactly 09.24 CET. Frankfurt, Budapest and Istanbul were overflown and the Boeing 737 landed in Tel Aviv at 13.15 CET.
On matchday 3 in the Europa League the Werkself play Hapoel Be’er Sheva in Petach Tikva, a few kilometres east of the city, on Thursday 5 November (kick-off: 18.55 CET).
As in the 6-2 home win against Nice, head coach Peter Bosz has included youth team striker Emrehan Gedikli in his squad. Absentees are Charles Aránguiz, Patrik Schick and Paulinho plus Santiago Arias, who are all injured or in rehab. Also missing is Karim Bellarabi following his red card in the 1-0 defeat against Slavia Prague. Right-back Mitchell Weiser has not been registered for the Europa League.
While Tel Aviv may well be unknown territory for some of the Werkself players, Bosz knows it really well – and he is not the only one in the Bayer 04 group. The 56-year-old took over the helm at the top Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv in January 2016. At his side like today: assistant coach Hendrie Krüzen. In the summer of this year, the Dutchman answered the call from the top club Ajax and he returned home to the Netherlands.
Rob Maas, again assistant coach to Bosz, filled the same role at Maccabi Haifa as the number two to Fred Rutten from the end of 2017 to November 2018. Maas was also caretaker coach for one game in November 2018.
But back to the forthcoming clash between the Werkself and Be’er Sheva: On Wednesday afternoon, Hapoel head coach Yossi Abukasis talked about the game against the Werkself. “We’ve had two games against strong opponents. Leverkusen are another top team we have to play. They have a great team,” said the 50-year-old who also emphasised: “But we also have a very good squad. Our previous results in the Europa League have been decent.” Be’er Sheva secured a surprise 3-1 win in the opening match against Slavia Prague. There was a narrow 1-0 defeat in the second game at Nice.
The experienced international referee Radu Petrescu is in charge of the first competitive match for the Werkself in Israel. The 37-year-old Rumanian is assisted by his fellow countrymen Radu Ghinguleac and Mircea Grigoriu. Petrescu has already refereed Bayer 04 in the Champions League away game at Lokomotive Moscow with the Black and Reds winning 2-0.
A special afternoon at the Bayer 04 Football Academy autumn camp: At the Liga 20 indoor football centre, in the shadow of the BayArena, two Werkself women’s team players led a training session. Loreen Bender and Selina Ostermeier not only offered the young players advice and support, but also got stuck in themselves.
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The Werkself have reached at least the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal in each of the last three years. The Black-and-Reds would like to make it to the final four of the competition again this season, but to do that they'll need to overcome 1. FC Nürnberg in round two, who travel to the BayArena with momentum following a successful league campaign so far. However, Bayer have a 100 percent record at home in all competitions this season - and have also won six of their last seven home matches in the Pokal. The Matchday News.
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Back at home in the second round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal, Bayer 04 host FC Nürnberg at the BayArena. The match against the current second-placed side in Bundesliga 2 is on Wednesday 28 October at 20:45 CET. Ahead of the game, head coach Carles Martínez spoke, amongst other things, about his anticipation of the clash in front of a home crowd. The Spaniard also commented on a number of personnel matters, including Ibrahim Maza and Montrell Culbreath, plus the visitors’ coach, Miroslav Klose.
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Now in their third season under head coach Miroslav Klose, FC Nürnberg are among the promotion contenders in Bundesliga 2. On Wednesday 28 October (kick-off: 20:45 CET), the team currently second in the table are away to Bayer 04 in the second round of the DFB Pokal. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Werkself player Ibrahim Maza has been named in the top ten in the ‘Men’s Young Talent of the Year’ category for 2026. The 20-year-old was at the London Palladium on Monday evening for the 2026 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony. Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, also attended the ceremony. Lamine Yamal of Barcelona was named the winner in the ‘Men’s Young Talent of the Year’ category.
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