The Werkself have played 53 games in the Europa League to date with 29 wins and 103 goals scored – that is more than any other German club in this competition in all three categories (excluding qualifiers).
Bayer 04 have played two of those matches against today's opponents from Hungary: The Werkself beat Ferencváros 2-1 at home in the opening fixture of the Europa League group stage in 2021/22. After the Hungarians took an early lead through Ryan Mmaee (8'), Exequiel Palacios levelled the scores with a fine shot into the top corner before half-time (37'). Florian Wirtz netted the deserved winner for Bayer 04 in the second half (69'). The second leg at the Groupama Arena in Budapest ended in a 1-0 win for Ferencváros with the goal scored by Aissa Laidouni (82'), now playing for Union Berlin, but Leverkusen were already confirmed as the group winners before the match.
Bayer 04 requests everybody to arrive at the BayArena in good time to allow fans to get to their seats in time for kick-off and to avoid long queues at the turnstiles.
Bayer 04 will have to manage without two players in the first leg against Ferencváros: Both Robert Andrich and Exequiel Palacios are sidelined today due to one-match bans. Both were booked in the second leg of the play-off in Monaco and, as the yellow cards from the Champions League ties (Andrich four, Palacios two) are carried over to the Europa League, head coach Xabi Alonso will have to manage without the two holding midfielders. All previous bookings are expunged after the quarter-finals.
Ferencváros are undisputed league leaders in Hungary. With a 14-point lead over second placed Kecskemeti TE, the Green and Whites are on course for their 34th league title. It would also be their fifth in succession. The club have not lost in the league for thirteen games although they have only won one of their last four matches (three draws). The team under Russian coach Stanislav Cherchesov could only manage a 1-1 draw last weekend against seventh-placed Mezökövesd-Zsory SE. After taking an early lead through striker Adama Traoré, the visitors levelled in the first half. More on the personnel, performers and problems for the Hungarians can be found in the lowdown on our next opponents.
Anyone wanting to read key facts about the match against Mainz before the game should take a look at the new Werkself LIVE. The matchday flyer, providing important facts and stats on the clash in compact form, is available at the BayArena. The digital version is also available free of charge online. The e-paper is HERE.
UEFA has appointed the Italian Davide Massa as the referee for the match against Ferencváros. This will be the third time in the Europa League that the 41-year-old has been in charge of a game involving the Werkself: Massa previously refereed the goalless draw at FK Krasnodar (Round of 32 in 2018/19) as well as the 2-0 defeat against Young Boys Bern (Round of 32 in 2020/21). Massa's assistants are his fellow countrymen Filippo Meli and Stefano Alassio with Marco Di Bello 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 with former Bayer 04 player Falko Götz joining him for the second half. 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.
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 as he worked 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 personalised 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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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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