TSG Hoffenheim have not lost more home games in the Bundesliga against any other club than Bayer 04 (eight as with Bayern Munich). TSG have only let in more goals at home against Borussia Mönchengladbach (28) than against the Werkself (26).
German professional football is paying tribute to the victims of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The German Football League (DFL) have recommended a minute's silence at fixtures in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 on the current matchday. The victims of the earthquake will also be remembered today ahead of kick-off at the PreZero Arena.
The Werkself goalkeeping coach David Thiel suffered a muscular injury in training and – as with the warm-up for the goalkeepers at today's game including Lukas Hradecky – he will have the support of Jan Conradi (goalkeeper coordinator at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre).
Last weekend's 5-2 defeat at VfL Bochum caused consternation amongst many people involved with TSG. "For some inexplicable reason, we weren't at it for the whole game and this negative run has to finally come to an end," said goalkeeper Oliver Baumann after the tenth match without a win. Hoffenheim stalwart Sebastian Rudy was equally baffled: "I don't know what we've done here. We give away goals, lose challenges and mess up our games." Eight defeats, two draws: That is the sobering return for TSG since the middle of October 2022. With the introduction of experienced winter signings and a new head coach in the dugout, TSG will be looking for a change of fortune in the home game against Bayer 04. Here is the profile of today’s opponents.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Tobias Stieler as the referee for today's game in Sinsheim. This will be the 25th match involving the Werkself with the 41-year-old in charge. Stieler will be assisted by Christian Gittelmann and Philipp Hüwe plus Tobias Welz as the VAR.
As usual, anybody unable to be at today's game can tune in to Werkself Radio. The audio broadcast starts 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann. The latest information can also be gained from live text updates to ensure you don't miss any of the action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text updates can be found bayer04.de as well as on the Bayer 04 app .
One of the longest serving players at the Werkself celebrates his birthday today: Jonathan Tah, at Leverkusen since 2015, is now 27 years old. The Hamburg-born defender has made an impressive 283 appearances (8 goals, 11 assists) for Bayer 04 and Tah has played in every Bundesliga match this term. Many happy returns, Jona!
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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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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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...
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The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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