UEFA have appointed François Letexier as the match referee. The 32-year-old has already been in charge of three fixtures in the Champions League and one in the Europa League this term. The Frenchman has also previously refereed a match involving the Werkself: the 5-1 win away to the top Cypriot club AEK Larnaca in December 2018. Lucas Alario scored twice on the night and Paulinho also found the back of the net. The other two goals were scored by the Bayer 04 home-grown player Dominik Kohr (now at Mainz 05).
Letexier will be assisted at the BayArena by his fellow countrymen Mehdi Rahmouni and Jeremie Pignard. Have a good game.
The Werkself will tonight wear black armbands in honour of the long-standing DFB president Egidius Braun. The Rhinelander passed away on Wednesday night at the age of 97. Braun was president of the German Football Association from 1992 to 2001 and went on to be its honorary president. Rudi Völler, sporting managing director at Bayer 04: "Egidius Braun will never be forgotten as a person and also based on his social affairs commitments. My deep condolences to his family and friends."
The Eintracht Frankfurt team will also remember the long-standing football official at tonight's Round of 16 second leg match against Real Betis with the Eintracht players also wearing black armbands.
Black and Red fans can also catch catch up with important information on the match ahead of kick-off in the Europa League game against Atalanta with the help of Werkself LIVE. The matchday programme can be obtained at the BayArena – alternatively it is available free of charge online. This season's new Bayer 04 programme provides interesting facts and stats on the meeting with the North Italian club. On the back there is a poster of Edmond Tapsoba. HERE is the e-paper.
The North Italian team took up their base in Cologne on Wednesday and this morning players under coach Gian Piero Gasperini used the Sportpark Höhenberg for a warm-up session. The home ground of the third division team SC Viktoria Köln provided the stage for light training and the squad returned to the team hotel at 11.00 CET.
Based on the current coronavirus protection order from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, 22,658 fans may currently attend matches at the BayArena, with no standing permitted. Spectators must wear – including at their own seats – a medical grade face covering. The 2G plus rule also applies. Further information is available in the FAQs on home games.
The Werkself have initiated the most vertical attacks (28) of all teams in the current Europa League campaign and scored the most goals as a result (5) – one of them in the first leg against Atalanta. More of the same please!
Barely two weeks since beating St. Pauli in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals, Bayer 04 again welcome the Hamburg club to the BayArena for Matchday 22 in the Bundesliga this Saturday (kick-off: 15:30 CET). The visitors received a welcome confidence boost last weekend with a win over VfB Stuttgart, but the head-to-head record is still very much in Leverkusen’s favour, which Kasper Hjulmand’s team will look to maintain. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-1 win against FC Köln on the 18th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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In preparation for the Bundesliga home match against FC St. Pauli on Saturday, 14 February (kick-off: 15:30 CET), the Werkself had a full week of training for the first time since the first match in 2026. At the press conference ahead of the clash against the relegation-threatened Kiezkicker, coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the intensive work during the week and the lessons learnt. The Dane also announced the good news that Ibrahim Maza is available again.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen are strengthening the squad for next season with the addition of Serbia U19 international Aleksa Damjanovic. The 17-year-old centre-forward is set to join the Bundesliga club in the summer from Serbian champions Red Star Belgrade. Damjanovic, who also has Austrian citizenship, has signed a long-term contract.
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