As one of the four weaker teams from the Champions League and the part of unseeded sides, Leverkusen will play one of these seeded teams in the Round of 32: Ajax, Inter Milan, Benfica, RB Salzburg, Sevilla, Espanol, Manchester United, Arsenal, Celtic, FC Basel, FC Porto, Sporting Braga, LASK Linz, Basaksehir, KAA Gent and Malmö.
The Werkself will play the first leg at the BayArena as the seeded teams are at home in the second leg. Teams from the same association or the same group cannot play each other. The last appearance of Leverkusen in the Europa League was ten months ago: Bayer 04 were knocked out in the Round of 32 by FK Krasnodar after two draws (0-0, 1-1).
Before that, there is the derby in Cologne on Saturday 14 December (kick-off: 15.30 CET). Bundesliga referee Manuel Gräfe has been appointed for this game. The 46-year-old Berliner will officiate his 26th match involving Bayer 04. In the previous 25 games under Gräfe, Leverkusen won 15 times with four draws and six defeats: In those games, the long-standing FIFA referee showed 47 yellow and five red cards to Werkself players.
One thing is clear: Referee Gräfe will have the longest journey to Saturday's match of anybody involved on the pitch – and that by a long way. While Cologne and the capital are over 500 kilometres apart, the home grounds of FC Köln and Bayer 04 are just 14.66 kilometres apart as the crow flies. That's the shortest distance between two grounds in the Bundesliga. Not even the stadiums of the two Berlin clubs Hertha and Union come close to that figure with a distance of 23.09 kilometres.
The former Bayer 04 player Michal Kadlec today (Friday 13 December) celebrates his 35th birthday. The Czech Republic international, with 67 caps, wore the Werkself shirt from 2008 to 2013. During that time, the left-back played 158 competitive matches scoring 14 goals and providing 15 assists. Bayer 04 wish him many happy returns on his birthday.
The Werkself first teamer Kai Havertz is among 55 players nominated for the FIFA 20 Team of the Year. Fans will have the opportunity to pick their team of the year. In addition to the Leverkusen player, the nominees include world stars like Virgil van Dijk, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo. The final line-up will be announced in January. You can vote here.
After a flawless tournament with only victories in the group and knockout stages, Argentina narrowly missed out on the title at the U20 World Cup in Chile. In the final on Monday night, Bayer 04 player Alejo Sarco and his fellow countrymen lost 2-0 to Morocco. Both goals were scored in the first half of the match played in Santiago de Chile. Sarco played for the first 60 minutes.
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The Werkself suffered their second defeat in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga with two players sent off. Roberto Pätzold's team lost 5-1 at home to VfL Wolfsburg at the end of Matchday 7. Goalkeeper Charlotte Voll saw red in the first minute for a professional foul and Lilla Turanyi was also sent off on 51 minutes. Claudia Wenger scored the only goal for the Black and Reds (46'). With 13 points from seven games, Leverkusen are now fifth in the table, three points behind the Wolves.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without the services of Malik Tillman for the time being. The 23-year-old suffered a thigh injury training with the USA national team during the international break. This was outcome of a medical in Leverkusen. Tillman is expected to be out for around two weeks.
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Bayer 04 player Carlotta Wamser is among the five candidates in the vote for NRW Professional Footballer of the Year 2025. Fans can vote online up to 9 November. In addition to the Germany international, Florian Wirtz is also one of the five nominees. The awards ceremony will take place in Düsseldorf on 28 November.
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