
The Werkself have played TSG Hoffenheim 28 times since they were promoted in 2008. The stats favour the team from Leverkusen: the Black and Reds have won 16 of those games. In addition, Bayer 04 have never lost to a team coached by the current TSG manager André Breitenreiter.
The German Football Association (DFB) have appointed Tobias Reichel as the referee for today's clash at the BayArena. The 37-year-old match official has previously refereed three Werkself games that ended with two wins and one draw. His assistants on the touchline are Lasse Koslowski and Christian Bandurski and Markus Schmidt is the VAR referee. Have a good game.
Werkself Radio is again on air as usual today. The audio broadcast starts half an hour before kick-off. You can also keep up-to-date via live text commentary to make sure you do not miss anything that happens in the match against TSG. Both the Werkself Radio and the live text updates can be found at bayer04.de as well as on the Bayer 04 app – tune in.
Anyone wanting to get in the picture before the start of the game against Hoffenheim can again find the important information on matchday three with the help of Werkself LIVE. The flyer, providing stats and facts on the game against the Breitenreiter team, is available at the BayArena. A free version is also available online. Click HERE for the e-paper.

There is traffic information for anybody travelling to the match against TSG by car or on public transport. From Friday 19 August (21.00 CEST) to Monday 22 August (05.00 CEST) the A1 Autobahn is closed in the direction of Dortmund between the Köln Nord and Leverkusen West motorway junctions. An alternative route is displayed on the overhead signs. This route is via the A1 to the Köln-West motorway intersection, the A4 to the Köln-Heumar intersection and the A3 to the Leverkusen intersection.
There are also great challenges after the game due to cancelled S Bahn traffic around Leverkusen Mitte station. Anybody travelling in the direction of Opladen can take one of the extra buses from the BayArena at Bismarckstraße.

“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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