SC Freiburg and the Werkself have played each other 45 times. The record from a Black and Red perspective: 20 wins, 13 draws and 12 defeats. There has been an average of 2.78 goals per game.
This will be the second away game at the new SCF ground for the Werkself: The first away fixture at the Europa Park Stadium, which was opened in October 2021, ended in a 2-1 home win for Freiburg in front of a crowd of 750 limited due to the coronavirus restrictions at the time.
SC Freiburg have received praise in the media this season. Justifiably as the team from the Breisgau were established at the top of the table up to the long winter break and at the end of the last year they made another statement of intent with a 4-1 home win against Union Berlin. 30 points, second place, just four points behind FC Bayern – in a good position at the end of the year. Click here for the lowdown on our next opponents.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Daniel Siebert as the referee for the match in Freiburg. For the 38-year-old this will be his 20th game in charge involving the Werkself. Siebert will be supported by assistant referees Jan Seidel and Rafael Foltyn with Sascha Stegemann acting as the VAR official.
As usual, Werkself Radio is available for anybody unable to be at today's game. The audio broadcast starts 30 minutes before kick-off with Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann providing the commentary. In addition, live text updates will keep you in the picture so you don’t have to miss any of the match action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text updates service can be found at bayer04.de as well as on the Bayer 04 app – get on board.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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