The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Tobias Stieler as the referee for the match against FC Bayern. The 41-year-old match official has previously been in charge of 22 games involving the Werkself with the fixtures resulting in 17 wins, three draws and two defeats for Bayer 04. His assistants tonight are Christian Gittelmann and Eduard Beitinger running the line and Timo Gerach is the VAR referee. Have a good game!
The last three Bundesliga away games at FC Bayern have brought the Werkself four points (one win, one draw, one defeat) – as many as in the previous 15 away games in Munich. Of all the teams currently in Germany’s top flight, only Borussia Mönchengladbach have also picked up four points in their last three away games in Munich and no team has clocked up more.
The Seoane team need to be fully focused in defence: The record champions remain the yardstick for judging attacking prowess in the Bundesliga with 19 goals scored, 161 efforts on goal, 28 clear-cut goalscoring opportunities, seven shots against the woodwork and ten different goalscorers. In addition: FC Bayern have scored in all of their last 32 Bundesliga home games against Bayer 04 - the last time they failed to score was in a 1-0 defeat in October 1989. The only longer run of goals at home in their Bundesliga history is against Hamburg SV (39 games since 1979).
Like several of the supposed top teams in the Bundesliga, FC Bayern are not living up to expectations at the moment. The side from Munich did make an impressive start to the season as usual with an opening 6-1 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt followed by an emphatic 7-0 victory over VfL Bochum on matchday three. FCB secured a convincing 2-0 win against VfL Wolfsburg on matchday two. However, they have not won since and Bayern are displaying an unfamiliar weakness: The team under head coach Julian Nagelsmann go into the clash with the Seoane team on the back of a negative run of three draws in succession followed by a 1-0 away defeat at FC Augsburg.
The imperative target for the Munich side is securing the next win but the Werkself are also looking to finally get back to winning ways. So, in spite of the meagre number of points and unsatisfactory situation in the table for both teams, an intense encounter under floodlights is on the cards tonight. All the other key information on our opponents from the capital of Bavaria can be found in our lowdown on our next opponents.
Today’s game against FC Bayern will be covered by Werkself Radio as usual. The audio broadcast starts 30 minutes before kick-off with the usual commentator team of Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann reporting live from the Allianz Arena. You can also keep up-to-date with the latest situation in the match against the record champions via the live text update service. Both Werkself Radio and the text updates can be found at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.
A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Bayer 04 U19s have extended their winning run with a fifth consecutive victory on Matchday 5 of the DFB Youth League’s preliminary round. Coach Patrick Greveraars’ side secured a 3–2 (2–1) win in their match against second-placed FC Viktoria Köln, with Burak Kir and Nebe Domnic scoring for the hosts in the first half before captain Ben Hawighorst found the net after the break.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without defender Guéla Doué for the time being. The Ivory Coast international sustained a muscle injury to his right calf during the final Werkself training session yesterday ahead of the Europa League clash with Slovenian champions NK Celje.
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For the first time since reaching the final against AS Roma (2–2, first leg 2–0) in May 2024, Bayer 04 are playing another home match in the UEFA Europa League – and they will be wearing their new European kit. On Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), the BayArena will welcome Slovenian champions NK Celje, who appointed a new coach this week following a mixed start to the season. Under the slogan “40 Years Across Europe. Still Creating History.”, the Black and Reds now aim to add the next chapter to their European history, which has seen so much success in recent years. Bayer 04 fans can follow the match on free-to-air TV on RTL, as well as on Sky and Werkself Radio. The matchday news.
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European football returns to the BayArena: Bayer 04 host Slovenian champions NK Celje on matchday 1 in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. Ahead of the match on Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez and midfielder Aleix Garcia spoke at the pre-match press conference. The focus was primarily on the great anticipation surrounding the competition and the clear objectives for it – and, given the circumstances, on a last-minute change to the opposition line-up.
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