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.
Job done: the Bayer 04 eSports team defeated SV Darmstadt 98 in the play-offs to secure their consecutive participation in the VBL Club Championship final. The journey continues now for Leverkusen on Saturday 7 March (from 17:00 CET) with a last-16 encounter at Hamburger SV.
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Werkself TV shows highlights of the 0-0 draw against Olympiacos in the second leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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A disciplined defensive performance in the second leg saw Bayer 04 prevail against Olympiacos in the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26. Thanks to the 2-0 away win in the first leg, the goalless draw at home at the BayArena was enough to ensure progress to the next round. The Black and Reds kept their opponents away from their goal for the best part of 90 minutes.
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Bayer 04 can go through to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the ninth time tonight, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET) and be in the top 16 clubs in Europe. A good omen: Leverkusen have progressed to the next round after winning the first leg in 20 of their 22 knockout rounds in European competitions to date. For their part, Greek record champions Olympiacos rested several players for last weekend’s league fixture ahead of the play-off second leg at the BayArena and will now do everything in their power to turn the tide with their usual aggressive and high pressing. The discussions on Werkself radio are likely to be just as intense as the battle on the pitch, with commentator Florian Bechholz welcoming honorary captain Stefan Kießling and goalkeeper Mark Flekken. Today’s matchday news.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will play Offenbacher Kickers: As part of the 125th anniversary celebrations of the regional football league club, the Werkself will play a friendly at the Hessen club in the summer. On Saturday, 25 July 2026 (kick-off: 15:00 CEST.), coach Kasper Hjulmand's team will face OFC at Offenbach's Bieberer Berg stadium. The supporters of both clubs have maintained a close fan friendship for many years. This makes the match in preparation for the 2026/27 season a very special one, and not just for Offenbach fans.
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