The Werkself lost 1-0 in the semi-final first leg in Rome. Both teams gave nothing away from the start of the match at the Stadio Olimpico and clear-cut chances were few and far between. Edoardo Bove scored the only goal of the game on 63 minutes.
The stats for AS Roma in away games in Germany are very promising from a Bayer 04 perspective: The Italian club has only won two of their last 15 away games against German clubs in European competitions (one draw, 12 defeats). These wins were against FC Nürnberg in 1988 and Hamburg SV in 2000 – the Italians have failed to win in their last five European games in Germany (one draw, four defeats).
It was an almost picture-perfect matchday for Roma. Nearly all their direct rivals for European spots dropped points in the Serie A at the weekend. The defeats for Atalanta (1-0 at US Salernitana) and AC Milan (0-2 at Spezia Calcio) plus the draw for city rivals Lazio (2-2 against Lecce) played into the hands of the team under coach José Mourinho. But AS Roma, in seventh place ahead of matchday 35, were unable to fully take advantage of the situation. The Giallorossi only managed a 0-0 draw away to Bologna on Sunday evening. Nevertheless, Roma were able to move above Atalanta into sixth place in Serie A, two points behind AC Milan in fifth and Lazio in fourth. Qualification for the Champions League via Serie A is highly unlikely with three games to play. The route to the Champions League – as for the Werkself – is exclusively via winning the Europa League. The team news and how Mourinho has prepared the AS Roma players for tonight’s match can be found in our lowdown on our next opponents.
In addition to the many, many Werkself fans, other special Black and Red supporters will be at the BayArena as Bayer 04 has invited the UEFA Cup winners from 1988 to the game. That includes Reiner Calmund, Gerd Kentschke, Falko Götz, Thomas Hörster, Knut Reinhardt and Rüdiger Vollborn. Today’s date is also a good omen: The Werkself celebrated their title win exactly 35 years ago on 18 May 1988. Who knows, perhaps the honoured guests may bring us luck. At least they know how to win a European competition...
Anyone wanting to know the key stats and facts ahead of the clash with the Italian side can take a look at the matchday magazine. It is available at the BayArena and also free of charge online. HERE is the e-paper.
UEFA has appointed Slavko Vincic as the referee for the second leg. This will be the first time the 43-year-old Slovenian has been in charge of the game involving the Werkself. He will be assisted by his fellow countrymen Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic on the touchline and the VAR official is Nejc Kajtazovic - also from Slovenia..
To ensure that all fans can be in their seats for the start of the game and to avoid long queues at the turnstiles, Bayer 04 request supporters to arrive in good time at the BayArena.
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.
The weekend, including the Bundesliga home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach, is round the corner. Before the Werkself play the last home game of the season at the BayArena on Sunday evening (19.30 CEST), sporting managing director Simon Rolfes and his predecessor Rudi Völler (now DFB sporting director) will be live on TV. Rolfes is on the broadcast ‘Lage der Liga’ (Situation in the league) on BILD TV from 09.00 CEST, Völler is on the SPORT1 programme ‘Doppelpass’ from 11.00 CEST. Both broadcasts are available free of charge onlin
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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