AS Roma and Bayer 04 have played each other four times in Europe to date with a win for each team plus two draws. Both teams have scored at least one goal in every game. A total of 19 goals with an average of 4.8 per match. The Werkself last met AS Roma in November 2015 in a 3-2 defeat in the Champions League group stage.
The two head coaches of the semi-finalists share a common past: Bayer 04 coach Xabi Alonso was at Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013 under AS Roma’s current coach José Mourinho. During that period, Alonso made 151 appearances for Real Madrid and was the winner 108 times. No other Real Madrid player other than Cristiano Ronaldo (14,140 minutes) played more under Mourinho than Alonso (12,548).
Anyone unable to be at the game today: RTL are broadcasting the match in Germany on free TV with the programme beginning at 20.15 CEST. As usual, Werkself Radio is also available. The audio broadcast starts 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann. You can also keep up-to-date via live text commentary to ensure you don’t miss any of the action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.
UEFA has appointed Michael Oliver as the match referee. The 38-year-old Englishman has previously been in charge of three games involving the Werkself with the Black and Reds winning all three: 1-0 at Rosenborg BK (Europa League 2012/13), 2-0 at Lokomotiv Moscow (Champions League 2019/20) and 2-0 against Atlético Madrid (Champions League 2022/23). He is assisted by his fellow countrymen Stuart Burt and Lee Betts, with Stuart Attwell– also from England – in action as the VAR official.
Like Bayer 04, AS Roma did not do well in their last match before the semi-final first leg. The Giallorossi lost 2-0 to Inter Milan at the weekend with goals scored by Federico Dimarco and Romelu Lukaku. It was a defeat that represents a severe setback in the race for a Champions League finish in Serie A for the team under coach José Mourinho. Nevertheless, the cult manager did not want to criticise his players. On the contrary, at the post-match press conference Mourinho said: “I’m incredibly proud of my lads. We played against the strongest team in Italy today, against a team who are in the semi-finals of the Champions League. It’s great to see that we weren’t inferior to Inter. The score was 2-0 because they didn’t miss anything in front of goal but we did. But we carry out on, it’s not over yet.” The info on personnel, performers and problems for AS Roma can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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A memorable 12 months: 2025 was a year marked by success, intense competition and groundbreaking innovations for the #B04eSports team. After ending the 2024/25 season as runners-up, the Leverkusen-based console pros got down to business in a new, completely restructured season model, in which showdowns rather than divisions were the decisive factor on the road to the final round of the German Club Championship. Bayer 04 quickly earned a place in the history books of the most prestigious competition in German eSports and secured some valuable advantages for the coming year. Bayer04.de takes a look back at 12 months full of passion and the determination to take the next step.
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Sustainability once again had many faces at Bayer 04 in 2025: In community activity, the club supported countless regional campaigns, including the Leverkusener Tafel, the Frauenennotruf Leverkusen e.V. and the homeless aid organisation "Kältegang". But the Black and Reds have also been involved in good causes around the world - including the Young Coaches training programmes in Uganda and Ecuador plus the Genuine World Cup in the USA, where the Inclusion Werkself competed. Bayer 04 was also fully committed to the environment and underwent external and independently certification in accordance with the European environmental management standard EMAS, for example, to analyse and optimise the club’s environmental efforts. Looking back at sustainability in 2025.
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