
Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich had his full squad available for the Schalke match with the exception of Tin Jedvaj who is currently making good progress in rehab following a hairline fracture to his shin. The Werkself now have to cope with the loss of another player: Charles Aránguiz suffered a torn calf muscle in the Friday night clash with the Royal Blues. The injury was confirmed by an MRI scan on Saturday morning.
The Chile international, who has been in outstanding form in recent weeks, picked up the injury in the first half and he did not emerge from the dressing room at the start of the second 45 minutes. Aránguiz misses playing for Chile in this week's crucial World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Brazil and is likely to be out of action for Bayer 04 for three weeks.

The #B04 eSports team made a successful start to the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship finals. Marc and Sean Landwehr defeated the hosts of the event, Hamburger SV, in the Round of 16. The quarter-final in the German club championship will be played on Sunday, 8 March at 14:00 CET against SC Freiburg, who finished top of the table in the league phase.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 3-3 draw at SC Freiburg on Matchday 25 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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Bayer 04 left Freiburg with a point after a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Europa-Park Stadion. Christian Kofane and Alejandro Grimaldo twice cancelled out goals from Vincenzo Grifo and Yuito Suzuki in the first before, before Martin Terrier finally put the Werkself in front early in the second. Matthias Ginter’s late leveller salvaged a draw for the hosts.
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Freiburg’s defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend left them two places but a whole 10 points behind Bayer 04. Their results in general may be mixed, but Julian Schuster’s side are a force to be reckoned with at home, where they have earned 24 of their 33 points. Leverkusen may choose to look for the aerial route if they’re to get the better of their hosts, who have conceded more headed goals than any other team. Here’s all you need to know ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game in our matchday news.
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