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!
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Having previously recorded six consecutive home wins across all competitions, Bayer 04 suffered their first home defeat of 2026/27 as they went down 4-2 to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Matchday 8. The visitors capitalised on their first two chances to score, with Ermedin Demirovic and Jamie Leweling finding the net in the first half. Although Patrik Schick got a goal back in the first half, Bilal El Khannouss and Demirovic again added further goals for Stuttgart. Bayer 04 didn’t give up, but Ibrahim Maza’s goal proved little more than a consolation.
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Fans at the BayArena got to enjoy a spectacle on Wednesday as the Werkself came from behind to beat Nürnberg 5-2 in the DFB Pokal. Now with the sixth home game of the season, can Bayer 04 maintain their perfect record in Leverkusen as VfB Stuttgart come to town in the Bundesliga on Saturday (15:30 CET)? The visitors have had issues domestically this term, sitting in 15th place, although they have had much better results in the UEFA Champions League. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 8 encounter…
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The Bayern Munich women’s football team are unbeaten in all domestic competitions in the last 62 matches. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the Bayer 04 women’s team will make their next attempt to end the holders unbeaten run in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie. For coach Roberto Pätzold, there are a number of factors that give the Werkself cause for optimism despite the high-calibre opposition.
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