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.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-2 loss at 1. FC Nürnberg on Matchday 8 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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After nine points from their first three away matches of the 2026/27 season, the Bayer 04 Women suffered their first away defeat on Sunday afternoon. The 2-0 defeat away to FC Nürnberg, who were winless before today, represented a setback for coach Roberto Pätzold’s team in the race for the top spots in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. Fany Pronietz scored both goals (62’, 85’) for the home side.
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The Werkself still have a score to settle with TSG Hoffenheim: Bayer 04 lost both matches against the Kraichgau side last term – after the Black and Reds had won all the previous five encounters. Leverkusen are currently on a roll and looking to kick off a new winning streak against TSG in Sinsheim on Sunday 25 October (kick-off: 15:30 CET), and Patrik Schick is keen to continue his current run of form. However, it will not be easy, as coach Christian Ilzer’s team have also gained confidence recently. Today’s matchday news.
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A look at the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga table ahead of the Werkself's clash at 1. FC Nürnberg leaves little discussion: Bayer 04 Women go into Sunday's meeting at the Max-Morlock-Stadion (16:00 CEST) as clear favourites. Coach Roberto Pätzold explains what's needed for the fourth-placed team against the second-from-bottom in order to make it four wins from four away matches this season.
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