For head coach Roger Schmidt it’s a trip down memory lane. He played for Verl from 1995 to 2002, was the team captain scoring 54 goals in 205 games and later he went on to coach the the side. Schmidt started his coaching career at Delbrück in 2004 and he led DSC into the DFB Cup. There will certainly be a party atmosphere in Verl on Friday night as the fixture is the opening match at the club’s new home with a capacity of 5,000.
And the Werkself certainly provide attractive opposition for the occasion as Champions League participants with Roger Schmidt returning to his roots. “This match against Bayer 04 is a great honour to us. We’re still in contact with Roger Schmidt and we’re looking forward to the game,” said Verl’s coach Andreas Golombek who ended last season with his team in tenth place in the Regional League West.
The Friday morning training session at the BayArena and lunch will be followed by the Werkself heading to Eastern Westphalia where the team will be based at the Hotel Klosterpforte in Marienfeld. The squad have three training sessions there on Saturday and Sunday morning and after the match at Delbrück in the afternoon it’s back to Leverkusen.
Cup tie against Hauenstein on a Sunday
The first competitive match for the Werkself in the 2016/17 campaign has been confirmed: Bayer 04 play the First Round DFB tie in Pirmasens against SC Hauenstein on Sunday 21 August at 15.30 CET.
Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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A rematch in Athens: On Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), the Werkself face Greek double winners Olympiacos for the second time this season at the Karaiskakis Stadium. After the encounter in the league phase, it's now time for the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-offs. Ahead of the game, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how his side will approach the clash, while captain Robert Andrich explained how the team will try to dampen the atmosphere in the stadium tomorrow.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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