
Peter Bosz welcomed his players back to the training ground on Monday afternoon and he was able to gain first impressions of the fitness of his team. After another intensive session on Tuesday, the performance tests on Thursday and a final training session on Friday, the week will be rounded off with the friendly against the Regional League side. For the Werkself, a number of players, who have not played much recently, plus one or two youth players may get the chance to show what they can do. The head coach is currently missing the international players who were given extended leave due to their time away on international duty. Kai Havertz, Lukas Hradecky, Tin Jedvaj, Julian Baumgartlinger, Aleksandar Dragovic, Jonathan Tah, Charles Aránguiz and Leon Bailey will all rejoin the squad at the training camp (15 to 21 July in Zell am See–Kaprun).
Tickets are still available via the Wuppertaler SV website for this weekend’s friendly at the Stadion am Zoo (Hubertusallee 4, 42117 Wuppertal).
Our opponents:
Last season, Wuppertaler SV finished eleventh in the Regional League West – the fourth tier of German football. The club is 30 kilometres away from Leverkusen as the crow flies and the two sides faced each other last summer with the Werkself running out comfortable winners with a 2-0 victory. The 25 competitive encounters (Oberliga, Regional League, second division) are a good while ago: Between 1962 and 1979 the Werkself won nine of the meetings (seven draws). The biggest success for the Wuppertal side is even further back: WSV were promoted to the Bundesliga in 1972 and a year later competed in the UEFA Cup. The undisputed low point followed in 2013 with the application for bankruptcy and the associated relegation to the fourth division where Wuppertal have been again since the 2016/17 season.

Job done: the Bayer 04 eSports team defeated SV Darmstadt 98 in the play-offs to secure their consecutive participation in the VBL Club Championship final. The journey continues now for Leverkusen on Saturday 7 March (from 17:00 CET) with a last-16 encounter at Hamburger SV.
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A disciplined defensive performance in the second leg saw Bayer 04 prevail against Olympiacos in the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26. Thanks to the 2-0 away win in the first leg, the goalless draw at home at the BayArena was enough to ensure progress to the next round. The Black and Reds kept their opponents away from their goal for the best part of 90 minutes.
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Bayer 04 can go through to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the ninth time tonight, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET) and be in the top 16 clubs in Europe. A good omen: Leverkusen have progressed to the next round after winning the first leg in 20 of their 22 knockout rounds in European competitions to date. For their part, Greek record champions Olympiacos rested several players for last weekend’s league fixture ahead of the play-off second leg at the BayArena and will now do everything in their power to turn the tide with their usual aggressive and high pressing. The discussions on Werkself radio are likely to be just as intense as the battle on the pitch, with commentator Florian Bechholz welcoming honorary captain Stefan Kießling and goalkeeper Mark Flekken. Today’s matchday news.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will play Offenbacher Kickers: As part of the 125th anniversary celebrations of the regional football league club, the Werkself will play a friendly at the Hessen club in the summer. On Saturday, 25 July 2026 (kick-off: 15:00 CEST.), coach Kasper Hjulmand's team will face OFC at Offenbach's Bieberer Berg stadium. The supporters of both clubs have maintained a close fan friendship for many years. This makes the match in preparation for the 2026/27 season a very special one, and not just for Offenbach fans.
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With the advantage of the 2-0 first-leg win in the play-offs, the Werkself are looking to book their place in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League at the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the home game against Olympiacos on Tuesday, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand and goalkeeper Janis Blaswich spoke about the position ahead of the match, the visitors' strength at set-pieces and a personnel issue for the home side.
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