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.
Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
Show more
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
Show more
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
Show more
After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
Show more
"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
Show more
