Bags of experience with the whistle: Dr. Felix Brych will referee the Werkself away game at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday afternoon, 2 January (kick-off: 15.30 CET). The 45-year-old lawyer from Munich has been a FIFA referee since 2007 and has also already officiated nearly 300 Bundesliga fixtures. His assistants for the #SGEB04 clash are Mark Borsch and Markus Schüller. Florian Badstübner is the VAR referee for the game.
Ahead of the game, Frankfurt head coach Adi Hütter shared his views on the opening match in the New Year. "Bayer play impressive football and are equally dangerous on the counter or at set pieces," said the Austrian in highlighting the strengths of the Werkself. "We have to believe we can more than compete on equal terms. A crucial element will be in counter-attacking situations because of Leverkusen have plenty of speed."
Hütter will have to manage without Sebastian Rode. The holding midfielder is serving a one-match ban. Ragnar Ache, one of the possible candidates up front after the departure of Bas Dost (Club Brugge) behind nine-goals man André Silva, is also ruled out because of injury.
As usual, Werks11 Radio will be covering matches in the New Year. The commentator duo of Cedric Pick/Niko Hartmann will be broadcasting live from the Deutsche Bank Park with coverage starting 30 minutes before kick-off. Log-in at bayer04.de or on the Bayer 04 app. The clash with the team from Hessen is also being broadcast by Sky.
It was an incredibly impressive goal that Leon Bailey scored to give the Werkself the lead in the home game against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on 13 December. With four minutes on the clock, the Jamaican took a quick corner from the right to Nadiem Amiri. Bailey ran past the Germany international, received the ball on his stronger left foot and curled it into the far top corner from the right hand side of the penalty area to make it 1-0. The match ended in a 4-1 victory for the Black and Reds.
Bailey's impressive shot has now deservedly been nominated for the December Goal of the Month on the ARD Sportschau. Also nominated: Julius Kade (Dynamo Dresden), Dennis Grote (Rot-Weiß Essen), Fin Bartels (Holstein Kiel) and Quentin Fouley (TuS Rot-Weiß Koblenz). You can vote up to midnight on 13 January by phone on 01371 36900 – with the final digit 1 for Leon Bailey as well as online at sportschau.de. Click HERE for the online vote.
Ski jumping gold-medal winner Sven Hannawald will be making the draw for the DFB Cup on Sunday 3 January on the ARD Sportschau from 17.30 CET. The Werkself still have to play their second round match: The home tie – again against Eintracht Frankfurt – originally set for 23 December was rearranged at the request of Bayer 04 to 12 January (kick-off: 20.45 CET). Therefore one of the balls will be marked Bayer 04/Eintracht Frankfurt. The DFB Cup Round of 16 will be played on 2 and 3 February with the quarter-finals on 2 and 3 March. The semi-finals will be on 1 and 2 May with the final at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on 13 May.
Julian Baumgartlinger has played for the Werkself since the summer of 2016. The midfielder is currently enjoying his best season under the Bayer Cross and has proved to be a reliable player in front of the back four. The captain of the Austria team is 33 this Saturday. Hopefully, 'Baumi' can celebrate his birthday with three points in Frankfurt. We wish him a happy birthday.
Also a year older on Saturday are former Leverkusen players Hanno Balitsch and Jakub Bednarczyk. The former played for Bayer 04 from 2000 to 2005 as well as 2010 to 2012 and is now assistant coach with the Germany U20s. Bednarczyk joined the youth section at Bayer 04 in 2011 from Bergisch Gladbach. The right back progressed through all the youth teams and made it into the senior squad in 2018. A year later he moved to second division FC St. Pauli and is currently on loan in his home country of Poland. The 22-year-old is playing for Zaglebie Lubin. Bayer 04 also wish the duo a happy birthday.
Less than a year ago, Kerim Alajbegovic moved from the Bayer 04 U19s to Austrian top-flight club FC Red Bull Salzburg. The forward’s development since then has been impressive. In 36 matches, including in the UEFA Europa League, the 18-year-old has scored 14 goals. In the summer, Alajbegovic, now a Bosnia international, will return to Leverkusen - and thus not only achieve the next milestone still early in his career, but also enrich the Werkself squad with his footballing versatility and determination.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with forward Nathan Tella ahead of schedule. The versatile 26-year-old, who can be deployed as a right winger, false nine or left winger, has penned a new contract to 30 June 2031. Tella joined the Werkself from Championship club Southampton in 2023. His previous contract ran to the summer of 2028.
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Nathan Tella has extended his contract with Bayer 04 to 2031. In an interview with Werkself TV, the 26-year-old talks about fulfilling his dreams, his positive outlook on life and his goals for the future. He answers the questions in English - all except the last one, which he addresses directly to the fans...
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In the final international break in the current 2025/26 campaign, Bayer 04 striker Patrik Schick with Czechia will be battling for a place at the World Cup. Meanwhile, national teams that have already qualified, include other Werkself players called up, are involved in friendlies in the build-up to the World Cup. Read on for an overview of the Leverkusen internationals and their match dates.
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The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
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