Werder Bremen have only won one of their last eleven games against the Werkself (six draws, four defeats): in a 3-1 victory on Bundesliga matchday 26 in the 2018/19 season. The last time Werder won the fixture at home was in October 2016 (2-1) and since then they have not beaten Bayer 04 in four games on their own turf (two draws, two defeats).
Werkself midfielders Robert Andrich and Exequiel Palacios are back in the squad under head coach Xabi Alonso after missing the Europa League Round of 16 first leg against Ferencváros due to suspension. Holding midfielder Charles Aránguiz is again sidelined through injury.
Werkself player Andrich this week took over the annual patronage of the OSTERMANN Birkenberg soccer school supported by Sportbund Leverkusen e.V.
There was great frustration in the Werder camp last weekend after the 2-1 defeat away to FC Augsburg. The defeat being completely avoidable was the prevailing view for the Green and Whites. "We clearly beat ourselves," said captain Marco Friedl. Coach Ole Werner raised statistics as proof of this statement and they all favoured Werder Bremen: 22 to 9 shots on goal, 81% pass completion, 62% possession – but what use is that if the result is not right in the end. Two things particularly stand out in the error analysis: "Too many chances were squandered" (Mitchell Weiser) and "we weren’t alert enough in crucial situations" (Niklas Schmidt). More on personnel, performance and problems for Werder Bremen in the lowdown on our next opponents.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Deniz Aytekin as the match referee for the game in Bremen. This will be the 35th game involving the Werkself with the 44 year-old in charge. Aytekin will be assisted by Christian Dietz and Eduard Beitinger with Pascal Müller 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.
Former Bundesliga and Germany keeper Manfred Manglitz, who was promoted to the Oberliga West with Bayer 04 in 1962, passed away on Monday at the age of 86.
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Justine Brandau and Lobke Loonen joined the Bayer 04 Women’s squad in quick succession this summer. The two Dutch players have been friends since their youth days, and are now playing for the same club for the first time. In an interview at the training camp in Rieden, Brandau and Loonen talk, amongst other things, about their experiences as opponents in the Vrouwen Eredivisie, the dynamic within their new team and their first few weeks in Leverkusen.
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The Werkself fixture list for the 2026/27 season in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga has been finalised. To kick off the season, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team travel to RB Leipzig between 21 and 24 August. The fixtures were announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday morning. The season will conclude with a home match on 23 May 2027 against newly promoted side Mainz 05.
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On Wednesday evening, Monheim City Council voted against a planning resolution for the Bayer 04 Campus on Alfred-Nobel-Straße in Monheim in a secret ballot, with 19 votes in favour, 25 against and one abstention. The legal status of the project therefore remains unchanged.
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