The match between the team led by head coach Gerardo Seoane and Porto will be refereed by Anthony Taylor. The 43-year-old match official has previously been in charge of one Werkself match – the 4-0 home win against Real Betis in the 2021/22 Europa League season on 4 November of last year. Taylor's assistant referees tonight are Gary Beswick and Lee Betts with Stuart Atwell acting as the VAR referee. Have a good game!
A perfect record: The Werkself have not lost a single of their six Champions League games against Portuguese teams. Bayer 04 have three wins and a draw against Sporting CP and one win and one draw against their city rivals Benfica. In addition, the Black and Reds have won both of the previous European games against Porto. In the 2019/20 season, the Portuguese side lost 2-1 away and 3-1 at home in the UEFA Europa League.
The Werkself are probably the only team able to boast such an impressive record against Porto. The Portuguese side have won seven of their eight home games against German teams in the Champions League and the other match was a draw. Porto have won all of their last five games against German teams: Schalke 04 (twice), Hamburg SV, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig.
As usual on course in the league but without a point in the Champions League: The Portuguese side are presenting two faces in the different competitions. While last season's league champions and cup winners are as impressive as ever with six wins and one draw from the first eight matches, and have only conceded six goals, it only took two games in the current Champions League campaign before the Portuguese had conceded the same number of goals.
The Dragons are bottom of Group B after the 2-1 defeat in the opening game against Atletico Madrid and the 4-0 home defeat against Club Brugge and are now under pressure to get a result in the next game. Detailed further information on today's opponents from the north of Portugal can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
Anybody not in the away section at the Estádio do Dragão can follow the audio broadcast from Werkself Radio from 30 minutes before kick-off. Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann will again provide the commentary for the match against Porto. You can also keep up-to-date with the action via the live text updates. Both the radio and text updates can be found at bayer04.de as well as on the Bayer 04 app.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed France U17 international Kenan Doganay. The 1.90-metre-tall defensive midfielder, who has Turkish roots, joins Leverkusen from the U19s at French top-flight club Olympique Lyon. He will initially train with and play for the U19 team.
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The Sports Tribunal of the German Football Association (DFB) has fined Bayer 04 Leverkusen €185,000 for spectators setting off pyrotechnic devices during a total of five competitive matches. This relates to four Bundesliga matches and the DFB Pokal semi-final against Bayern Munich. The highest individual fine relates to the away match at FC Köln at the end of April.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with U19 goalkeeper Simeon Rapsch. The Germany youth international goalkeeper has signed a long-term contract with the Werkself running to 30 June 2029. The 18-year-old joined Leverkusen from FC Viktoria Köln in the summer of 2024.
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Ken Izekor is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen to join third-tier side Alemannia Aachen with immediate effect. The 19-year-old centre-forward joined the club from Alemannia in 2018, and Izekor is now returning to his hometown.
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