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.
In glorious sunshine and temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius, the Bayer 04 Women have begun their preparations for the new season. With a relaxed first session at the Kurtekotten training centre, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team became the first Bundesliga side to resume training after a 37-day break.
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Black and Red stand out. Under the slogan ‘Diversity under the Cross’, Bayer 04 took part in Pride on the Rhine at the weekend alongside the queer fan club “Bayer 04 Junxx”. The club mascot, Brian the Lion, and several members of staff were also in attendance, championing diversity and solidarity.
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Centre-back Melissa Friedrich is set to remain at Bayer 04 for another year. The longest-serving player in the squad, who joined the club in 2016, has extended her contract to 2027.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed Portugal U21 international Afonso Moreira. The 21-year-old winger joins the club from French top-flight side Olympique Lyon on a contract to 30 June 2031. In France last year, the left-winger made 37 appearances in Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the UEFA Europa League, scoring a total of eight goals and providing eleven assists.
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