A look at the stats from a Black and Red perspective is encouraging: The Werkself have beaten Eintracht Frankfurt eight times in succession across all competitions – the longest run of home wins against a current Bundesliga club. The two teams are not giving anything away in this Bundesliga campaign. Eintracht are just ahead of the Werkself in sixth place with 41 points and Bayer 04 are seventh waiting to pounce with one point less.
The Werkself will go above Eintracht with a home win. The team under head coach Xabi Alonso would move up to sixth place with a seventh win on the bounce – Bayer 04 have not been that high up the table so far this season.
After a run of seven games without a win, Eintracht Frankfurt won again on Tuesday in the 2-0 victory in the DFB Cup quarter-final against Union Berlin. The team from Hessen produced a very convincing performance for much of the game. "We played brilliantly in the first half and the lads produced a great display overall," said head coach Oliver Glasner. Further information on Eintracht's squad, performers and problems is available in our lowdown on the next opponents.
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.
Anyone wanting to read key facts about the match against Eintracht Frankfurt before the game should take a look at the new Werkself LIVE. The matchday magazine is available at the BayArena and the digital version is also available free of charge online. HERE is the e-paper.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Robert Hartmann as the match referee foot today's game. The 43-year-old match official has previously been in charge of 17 games involving the Werkself. His assistant referees are Christian Leicher and Dr. Arne Aarnink with Günter Perl 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 und Niko Hartmann. In addition, the live text update service will keep you up-to-date to ensure you don't miss any of the key match action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text updates can be found at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app – tune in.
Werkself player Karim Bellarabi today celebrates his 33rd birthday – many happy returns. Bellarabi joined Bayer 04 in the summer of 2011 and he played his first game for the Black and Reds in the derby against FC Köln on 17 September that year. Since then the Berlin-born forward, now the longest-serving Werkself player, has made 213 Bundesliga appearances for Bayer 04. The winger has scored 34 goals and provided 48 assists in those matches.
The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
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The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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The Bundesliga is back. On Saturday 29 August (kick-off: 15:30 CEST), the Werkself are away to SV 07 Elversberg on matchday 1 of the new season. Ahead of the clash at the URSAPHARM Arena on Kaiserlinde, head coach Carles Martínez spoke, amongst other things, about the importance of a successful start and the motivation of the league newcomers from the Saarland.
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On Friday afternoon, it will be decided which eight of the 36 participating teams Bayer 04 will face in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League in 2026/27. At the draw in Monaco (live on UEFA.com), the Werkself will be drawn against two teams from each of the four pots, allocated according to the UEFA club coefficient. A match against an opponent from the same country is ruled out, as is facing more than two clubs from the same national association. Here’s a look at the pots and potential opponents.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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