The day after the 2-1 win in the DFB Cup Round of 16 tie against VfB Stuttgart, the Werkself training session on Thursday morning was aimed at recovery. Charles Aránguiz was back on the pitch but trained on his own. Julian Baumgartlinger (knock against Hoffenheim) and Sven Bender, who remained in the dressing room after the half-time break due to muscle problems against the team from Swabia, also missed out on the full training session. Exequiel Palacios, who made his debut for Bayer 04 last night, was also absent and he was particularly missed by the two assistant coaches of Argentina Wálter Samuel and Roberto Ayala as Lucas Alario was the only one of their two players at the training session. The Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was at the cup tie at the BayArena last night to have a look at his players.
The participants for the DFB Cup quarter-finals were confirmed last night. In addition to the Werkself, the Bundesliga clubs Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Schalke 04, Werder Bremen and Union Berlin plus the fourth division side FC Saarbrücken have qualified for the next round. The draw will be held at the German Football Museum in Dortmund on Sunday night at 18.00 CET and it will be made by former international Cacau who is currently working as the integration officer for the DFB. The DFB general secretary Friedrich Curtius will be in charge of the draw. ARD will broadcast the draw live on the Sportschau TV programme.
Once again it is time for Player of the Month and Kai Havertz has been nominated for the EA SPORTS January Player of the Month. The vote is made up of 40% from the fans plus 30% each from the Bundesliga clubs and selected pundits. The 20-year-old faces stiff competition: In addition to the Leverkusen player, Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho (both Borussia Dortmund), Leon Goretzka, Robert Lewandowski and Ivan Perisic (all Bayern Munich) have been nominated as well.
You can vote for Havertz HERE.
Stefan Kießling is a guest on 'Doppelpass' on Sunday morning – one subject of the football talk show will definitely be the home game for the Werkself against Borussia Dortmund (Saturday, 8 February, 18.30 CET). The programme will be broadcast from 11.00 CET on the Sport 1 channel.
There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
Show more
Bayer 04 have won each of their last five competitive encounters with 1. FC Köln, and it's around seven years since their last defeat in the cathedral city. That said, the hosts are in strong form at home and will make it anything but easy for the Werkself at the RheinEnergieSTADION on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 15:30 CET). The Matchday News.
Show more
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 2-0 win against Hamburger SV on Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
Show more
1. FC Köln host Bayer 04 on Sunday 8 November (kick-off 15:30 CET) in the 75th Bundesliga derby between the Rhineland neighbours. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
