The team have been dreaming of the first appearance in a cup final in the club's history. Verena Hagedorn is also well aware of this focus. "Everybody in the team is on fire and can hardly wait to achieve the big target on Sunday," said the 34-year-old. And the new head coach, who last week took over the helm from caretaker coach Malte Dresen, is confident that her team can clear this hurdle. "Clearly, Sand are definitely better placed in the Bundesliga than us but I believe we can compete on equal terms. We definitely have the chance of winning the match on Sunday to go through to the final," declared Hagedorn.
The former assistant to Germany coach Steffi Jones has used the first 10 days in a new job to get a good look a new squad. "I've settled in well and had a lot of discussions. The job is great fun and I'm looking forward to it. I found a strong team at Bayer 04 that has the potential to improve," said Verena Hagedorn. The fact that the Bundesliga game against Sand at Kurtekotten ended in a 3-0 defeat four weeks ago weeks ago does not have an undue influence on her: "We're going into Sundays game in an absolutely positive frame of mind and will try to cut out the mistakes that led to the defeat against Sand in the league. And the Cup is also a completely different competition compared with the battle for points in the league.
Clean sheets to date
Bayer 04 have yet to concede in the DFB Cup this season with clean cheats in the first four rounds: 4-0 in Niederkirchen, 4-0 in Saarbrücken, 5-0 against Jena and 2-0 at Cloppenburg with the results on the way to the semi-final. Sand, who made the final last season losing 2-1 against VfL Wolfsburg, qualified for the last four with a 3-1 win in Wetzlar, a 4-0 victory at Schott Mainz, a 3-0 success at Weinberg as well as a 1-0 result at Bremen.
"It will be important for us to enjoy playing the game," said Hagedorn who sees possession and passing play important components in her work at Bayer 04. It remains to be seen whether there are any absentees for the match against Sand. "There is a slight doubt about one or two players," said the coach. That applies particularly to Rebecca Knaak who is struggling with an ankle injury.
A week after the disappointing DFB Pokal exit at Hamburger SV, the Bayer 04 Women return to league action. In a home match against SGS Essen on Saturday, 22 November (kick-off: 14:00 CET at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium), coach Roberto Pätzold's team will be fighting to maintain a good position in the chasing pack in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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Tickets are on sale for the last two Bayer 04 Women's team home games in 2025. Fans can now purchase tickets for the matches at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against RB Leipzig and the final fixture of the year in the Rückrunde opener against German champions Bayern Munich. The latest information at a glance.
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Eliminated ahead of the offline round: On Tuesday, 18 November, the Leverkusen console pros played the two remaining matches in the online preliminary round of showdown two. After picking up six points from the first four games last week, the #B04eSports team bagged another three in the two final duels - but it wasn't enough. The Leverkusen team missed out on a place in the offline knockout round, which will take place in this second showdown on 23 November in Frankfurt am Main.
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Several Bayer 04 players are currently away with their respective national teams in the final international break of 2025, with most of them involved in qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Our blog will keep you up to date on the matches involving the Werkself.
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The VBL Club Championship by WOW 2025/26 continues today, Tuesday 18 November, with the last two of the six online preliminary round matches in the second showdown. Starting at 18:00 CET, Bayer 04 face Karlsruher SC, followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach at 19:00 CET. The games will be streamed live on the Bayer 04 app and on the club Twitch channel. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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