Following the goalless draw against Union Berlin, the Werkself are now unbeaten in 14 games in succession (ten wins, four draws) – that last happened between September and December in 2017 (also 14 games).
FC Köln have often failed to gain a result against the Werkself in this century: The team from Cologne have only suffered more Bundesliga defeats against Bayern Munich (21) than they have against Bayer 04 (18). Over the same timescale, FC Köln have only lost more Bundesliga away games against Borussia Dortmund (11) than against the Werkself (10, as with Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach).
FC Köln lost at the weekend after a run of four games without defeat. However, the Cologne team produced another convincing performance in the 1-0 home defeat against SC Freiburg. "It's difficult to find the right words when you have such a good game and then end up losing," said FC Köln coach Steffen Baumgart. "The lads gave their all. It's great to see that we're back on track." They came off that track from the middle of February to the beginning of April. FC Köln went six games without a win (four defeats, two draws) and only scored one goal in that run of fixtures with a goal difference of 1 for and 13 against that saw them slip down to thirteenth in the table. The latest on personnel, performers and problems for the team from Cologne can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
Bayer 04 requests everybody to arrive at the BayArena in good time to allow fans to get to their seats in time for kick-off and to avoid long queues at the turnstiles.
Anyone wanting to read the key facts and stats about the derby before the game should take a look at the new Werkself LIVE. The matchday magazine is available at the BayArena and the digital version is also available free of charge online. HERE is the e-paper.
The German Football Association (DFB) have appointed Felix Zwayer as the match referee. The 41-year-old match official has previously been in charge of 29 games involving the Werkself (15 wins, six draws, eight defeats). His assistant referees are Marco Achmüller and Robert Wessel with Dr. Felix Brych in action as the VAR official.
As usual, Werkself Radio is available for anybody unable to be at today's game. The audio broadcast begins 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Cedric Pick und Niko Hartmann plus Jens Nowotny. So, tune in.
In addition, the live text update service will keep you up-to-date to ensure you don't miss any of the key match action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app – just log in.
Former Bundesliga and Germany keeper Manfred Manglitz, who was promoted to the Oberliga West with Bayer 04 in 1962, passed away on Monday at the age of 86.
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The Werkself fixture list for the 2026/27 season in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga has been finalised. To kick off the season, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team travel to RB Leipzig between 21 and 24 August. The fixtures were announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday morning. The season will conclude with a home match on 23 May 2027 against newly promoted side Mainz 05.
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On Wednesday evening, Monheim City Council voted against a planning resolution for the Bayer 04 Campus on Alfred-Nobel-Straße in Monheim in a secret ballot, with 19 votes in favour, 25 against and one abstention. The legal status of the project therefore remains unchanged.
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The Bundesliga has set the exact dates for the first four matchdays in the 2026/27 league campaign. Here is an overview of the fixtures.
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