As with Bochum, Fortuna Köln are familiar opponents for Bayer 04 in friendly matches. The last time the two teams met was in November last year with Leverkusen winning 1-0 at the Haberland Stadium. The goalscorer was Kai Havertz who, five days earlier, had become the youngest ever player to make his debut for the Werkself in the Bundesliga match against Darmstadt 98. Back then, Bayer 04 played Fortuna without 15 internationals and this time it will be nine – plus the two U19 players Sam Schreck and Atakan Akkaynak. The injured Charles Aránguiz (Chile) and Tin Jedvaj (Croatia) are unable to play for their countries this time round.
Head coach Heiko Herrlich will again use the opportunity against Köln to give time on the pitch to players in his squad who have not appeared much recently – such as goalkeeper Rambo Özcan, Stefan Kießling, André Ramalho, Vladlen Yurchenko and Marlon Frey. Fortuna Köln have had an excellent start to their third division campaign and are currently third in the table behind Paderborn and Magdeburg after eleven games. The team coached by Uwe Koschinat have only lost one game and they secured a 3-1 victory in their last match at Großaspach.
Bayer 04 have arranged another friendly for the third international window of the season against MSV Duisburg on 9 November.
The Werkself face Manchester City for the very first time on Tuesday for Matchday 5 of the league phase in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League (kick-off: 21:00 CET). The hosts sit fourth in the standings and boast huge quality in attack, while Leverkusen are looking to improve their meagre record of just one win from the last 10 games away at English clubs. A key player in that regard could be Aleix Garcia, the former City midfielder who ranks highly in several passing metrics in the Champions League this season. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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The Werkself's next European trip takes them to the north-west of England as Kasper Hjulmand's side take on Manchester City on Tuesday, 25 November (kick-off: 21:00 CET) on Matchday 5 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. As usual, we'll take you along on the #aCROSSeurope journey and report from Manchester. All times listed are in CET.
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The dress rehearsal in the Premier League for the match against the Werkself did not go well at the weekend. However, Manchester City are still unbeaten in the UEFA Champions League, the competition they won in 2023. In the first encounter with Bayer 04 this Tuesday, 25 November (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Pep Guardiola will be able to field just about his best line-up. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Will the Bayer 04 U19s take the next step towards their first appearance in the knockout stage of the UEFA Youth League in the away game at Manchester City? Coach Kevin Brok is well aware of this historic opportunity, but he's not about to start worrying about the maths: "We're not concerned with the question of what might be good enough. We invest everything we can and always aim for the maximum. That's our way." The game on this penultimate Matchday 5 of the league phase takes place on Tuesday, 25 November (kick-off: 16:00 CET) at the Manchester City Academy Stadium. Werkself TV will be broadcasting the whole match exclusively for Bayer 04 club members live from 15:50 CET....
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€1,000 and food for a good cause: In keeping with the long-standing cooperation between Bayer 04 and the Tafel Leverkusen e.V. food bank, the U19s are also supporting the charitable organisation in the region. In addition to the generous cheque the team were able to donate to an organisation of their choice as a result of their participation in the UEFA Youth League, coach Kevin Brok's lads donated €500 worth of food - financed by their own team kitty. Ferdinand Pohl, Jesper Schlich and Co. also actively helped to stow the food in the Tafel's premises.
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