Ferencváros have lost two out of three games against Bayer 04 in the Europa League. However, they did win the last home game 1-0 in December 2021 - the Werkself were already confirmed as group winners at that point.
Another interesting fact demonstrates the goal threat from the Bayer 04 players. Of all the clubs who have taken part in the last three Europa League campaigns (since 2020/21), Bayer 04 have the highest average number of goals per game over that period (2.5).
While the Ferencváros full-back Endre Botka is currently serving a one-match ban, the same fate is hanging over several Bayer 04 players if progress is made to the quarter-finals: Odilon Kossounou, Mitchel Bakker, Kerem Demirbay and Florian Wirtz could be suspended for the first leg of the quarter-final tie if they pick up another yellow card in the match against Ferencváros.
Ferencváros lost 2-1 on Sunday night at home to fifth-placed Puskas Akademia in the OTP Bank Liga. It was the first defeat in front of their owns this season. Coach Stanislav Cherchesov made six changes to the side that started in the 2-0 defeat in Leverkusen as he rested a number regular starters. More information on the club from Budapest can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
UEFA has appointed Artur Dias to referee the match in Budapest. This will be the second time the 43-year-old has been in charge of a game involving the Werkself. The Portuguese match official refereed the Champions League group match at Atlético Madrid in October 2019 (0-1). Dias’ assistant referees at the Puskas Arena are his fellow countrymen Paulo Soares and Pedro Ribeiro with Tiago Martins, also from Portugal, 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 and Niko Hartmann. In addition, the live text update service will keep you up-to-date to ensure you don't miss anything in the game. Both Werkself Radio and the live text updates can be found at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app – tune in.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
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It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
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