The Bayer 04 first team squad headed south on Sunday afternoon after an intensive and long week of training. The team under head coach Hannes Wolf play twelfth in the table TSG Hoffenheim on Monday night, 12 April at the end of matchday 28.
This will be the first game involving Werkself with referee Dr. Matthias Jöllenbeck (kick-off: 20.30 CEST) in charge of proceedings. For the 34-year-old doctor from Müllheim near Freiburg, #TSGB04 will be his fifth Bundesliga game as the match referee. In his previous matches in the top-flight, Dr. Jöllenbeck has shown nine yellow cards and awarded three penalties. As yet, he has not sent anybody off.
The referee has the honour of ending the final Monday match in the Bundesliga after the 90 minutes at the PreZero Arena. The kick-off time, unpopular with fans, will be scrapped for next season.
There have been occasional Bundesliga matches on a Monday night over the past four years. The kick-off time was initially introduced to help teams playing in the Europa League on Thursdays. In future there will be a new kick-off time of 19.30 on Sundays.
Tonight's historic meeting will again be covered by the lads from Werks11 Radio: Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann will start broadcasting at 20.00 CEST to get fans in the mood for the clash with TSG. The match will also be broadcast live by the streaming service DAZN.
The German Football Association (DFB) has confirmed the schedule for matchday 20 in the FLYERALARM Women's Bundesliga: The Werkself Women entertain bottom club SV Meppen at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre on Sunday, 9 May with the kick-off at 14.00 CEST.
Bayer 04 will broadcast the game live on the club’s YouTube channel.
Remaining fixtures for the Bayer 04 Women:
Matchday 17: Sunday, 18 April, 14.00 CEST: SV Werder Bremen v Bayer 04
Matchday 18: Friday, 23 April, 19.15 CEST: Bayer 04 v SGS Essen
Matchday 20: Sunday, 9 May, 14.00 CEST: Bayer 04 v SV Meppen
Matchday 21: 23 May*: Bayer 04 v FC Bayern Munich
Matchday 22: 6 May*: SC Sand v Bayer 04
*timings to be confirmed.
Matchday 19 was brought forward due to an adjustment to the fixture list at the start of February.
A double friendly against Eintracht Frankfurt: Last weekend, the two oldest Bayer 04 youth teams played the Eagles. While the U17s drew 0-0 at Kurtekotten, the U19s under head coach Sven Hübscher won 4-2 in Frankfurt. The 2-0 lead at half-time came with goals from Yannick Schlößer and Samed Onur, both of whom regularly train with the senior squad. Michel Eickschläger netted a brace after the break to make it 3-1 and then 4-1.
The seasons for the youth teams were suspended in October last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Benjamin Henrichs started at Kurtekotten at the age of seven. The full-back then progressed through the youth ranks. In 2015/16, he succeeded in stepping up to the first team and, after his first season in the top-flight, Henrichs was awarded the gold U19 Fritz Walter medal. Benjamin went on to play for Germany during his time at Bayer 04 (five appearances).
Henrichs made a total of 62 Bundesliga appearances for Bayer 04 before joining AS Monaco in 2018. The current employers of former Leverkusen player Kevin Volland loaned Henrichs out of the start of the season to RB Leipzig. After making his 15th appearance last weekend, he has now been signed on a four-year deal by RB.
He was only at Bayer 04 Leverkusen for two years but was involved in one of the most important triumphs in the history of the Black and Reds: Willi Korth was part of the Bundesliga promotion team of 1979. Signed from Schwarz-Weiß Essen the season before, the defender made seven appearances in the promotion year. Korth celebrates his 66th birthday today (Monday) – and Bayer 04 wish him many happy returns.
Bayer 04’s Ibrahim Maza is among the three nominees for the Bundesliga’s 2025/26 Rookie of the Season award. Fans have until 23:59 CEST on Thursday, 7 May to cast their votes in the official Bundesliga app.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 4-0 win at SGS Essen on the 24th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Bayer 04 Women have kept their chance of qualifying for the Champions League alive in the Bundesliga run-in. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team won 4-0 at SGS Essen on Sunday afternoon, improving their record from last season to 14 wins this term. With 43 points, the Werkself equalled another record from the 2024/25 season and at the same time reduced the gap to third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt to two points, at least for tonight. Loreen Bender (4’), Kristin Kögel (41’, 68’) and Cornelia Kramer (89’) scored for the Black and Reds, who dominated the game to record their fourth win on the bounce.
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With the 4-1 home win against RB Leipzig, the Werkself not only ended the run of five consecutive victories for RBL, but also moved up to fourth place, which would ensure qualification for the UEFA Champions League. While the media praised the impressive performance of Leverkusen's hat-trick hero Patrik Schick in particular, the team and coach were delighted with the "fantastic energy" from the stands and are looking to take the momentum into the remaining two games: "We have to perform like we did today in Stuttgart!" The Werkself review.
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