Dressed in their black and red training kit and – as is essential these days – wearing face masks, the Werkself players and coaching staff explored Prague at lunchtime (see gallery below). Rest was on the agenda after lunch at the team hotel. The group will set off for the Eden Arena after the pre-match meal in the early evening.
The Werks11 Radio duo are back to full strength: After being sidelined through illness – he missed the games against Mainz and Nice as well as Augsburg – Niko Hartmann has returned just in time for the clash at Slavia Prague. The experienced radio reporter joins Cedric Pick on Thursday to accompany Werkself fans through the evening. In a change from the usual procedure, they will not be at the game but instead at the BayArena. The duo will be on air 30 minutes before kick-off – tune in at bayer04.de or on the Bayer 04 app.
Anybody preferring to watch the game on television can take in the match and build-up on free TV at RTL Nitro from 20.15 CET plus the streaming service DAZN.
Five Bayer 04 Women players are on the road with their national teams; two have already played: Dora Zeller and Lilla Turanyi started for Hungary in a Euro qualifier but ended up on the losing side in a 2-1 defeat against Slovakia. Zeller was substituted on 87 minutes while Turanyi went the full distance. Henrietta Csiszár had to drop out at short notice due to an injury. Information on the current international break can be found HERE.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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