The first round of the DFB Cup will be drawn on Sunday 26 July from 18.30 CET. As announced by ARD on Tuesday, the channel will broadcast the draw live on the ‘Sportschau’. There will be a number of unknown quantities in the draw as the cup competitions of the state associations were not completed due to the break enforced by the coronavirus pandemic.
The finals of the state cups will be played on 22 August at an amateurs finals day (from 14.30 CET/live on ARD). The first round ties in the DFB Cup will be played between 11 and 14 September, a week before the start of the Bundesliga.
The first leg of the Round of 16 tie for Bayer 04 at Glasgow Rangers (3-1) was – in contrast to the Werkself – the last competitive match for the Scottish side up to now. The Scottish Premier League was abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic and Rangers finished in second place. Steven Gerrard recalled his players in the middle of July. Rangers are not just preparing for the Europa League second leg match at the BayArena on 6 August (kick-off: 18.55 CET) but also for the new league season that starts a few days earlier.
Rangers have already played two friendlies ahead of the opening fixture away to Aberdeen on 1 August. The Scots played in Lyon against Olympique and Nice. Gerrard’s team won both games 2-0. Ianis Hagi netted a brace against Lyon; the goals against Nice were scored by Jermain Defoe and Jamie Barjonas. Both games were played in front of a limited number of supporters who maintained social distancing guidelines in the stands. Rangers have another two friendlies planned in the next few days.
If the Werkself are in the quarter-finals after the Round of 16 second leg against Rangers then they would face the winners of match between Inter Milan and Getafe, in Düsseldorf on 10 August (kick-off: 21.00 CET). While the Italians are still involved in Serie A until the August, Getafe completed their league fixtures on Sunday 19 July.
On the final matchday, the team coached by Pepe Bordalás could have secured a place in the Europa League with a win at UD Levante – the team from Valencia were not playing for European qualification or to maintain their top-flight status. While the rivals from San Sebastián (1-1 at Atlético Madrid) and Granada (4-0 against Bilbao) picked up points, Getafe lost 1-0 to Levante and were out of the running for a place in Europe.
While Getafe failed to qualify for Europe via the league, their opponents from northern Italy have already qualified for the Champions League next season. With four games to play in Serie A, the team under coach Antonio Conte are in second place with a 14-point lead over fifth-placed AS Roma. Mathematically, Inter are still in with a chance of lifting the league title. However, that appears unlikely given the eight-point deficit to Juventus.
Two former Werkself players celebrated their birthdays on Wednesday: Central defender Ömer Toprak, who now plays for Werder Bremen, will be 31. Born in Ravensburg, he played for Bayer 04 from 2011 to 2017 making a total of 154 Bundesliga games for the Black and Reds. Andrej Voronin was at Bayer 04 for three years (2004 to 2007). The former player scored 32 goals for the Werkself in 92 Bundesliga games. The Ukrainian is 41 on Wednesday.
The current Bayer 04 defender Wendell celebrates his birthday a day earlier. The always cheerful Brazilian starts his seventh season with Bayer 04 in September and is 27 on Tuesday. Bayer 04 wish the trio: Many happy returns (belatedly)!
Freiburg’s defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend left them two places but a whole 10 points behind Bayer 04. Their results in general may be mixed, but Julian Schuster’s side are a force to be reckoned with at home, where they have earned 24 of their 33 points. Leverkusen may choose to look for the aerial route if they’re to get the better of their hosts, who have conceded more headed goals than any other team. Here’s all you need to know ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game in our matchday news.
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A boost for the second Bundesliga away game in a row: The Werkself take on SC Freiburg just three days after the convincing 1-0 win at Hamburger SV. Ahead of the game on Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the lessons learned from the rearranged fixture at HSV, a trio on yellow cards and young players like Christian Kofane and Montrell Culbreath.
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SC Freiburg suffered their eighth away defeat of the season in Frankfurt last weekend. But at home, at the Europa Park Stadion, coach Julian Schuster's team are clocking up one win after the next. SCF are unbeaten in the last 16 matches at home. On Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET), they will be looking to keep the run going in the clash with the Werkself. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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For the third time in a row, the Leverkusen eSports players have made it through to the final round of the VBL Club Championship. From 7 to 8 March, they will compete for the German Club Championship at XPERION in Hamburg. At the start of the final round, they face Hamburger SV in the Round of 16. The match starts at 19:30 CET on Saturday, 7 March and will be broadcast live on the VBL Twitch channel. The eSports preview.
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The German Football League (DFL) has scheduled Matchdays 28 to 30 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The fixtures at a glance.
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