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.
Bayer 04 host VfB Stuttgart at the BayArena on matchday 8 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The game will be played on Halloween on Saturday, 31 October with the a 15:30 CET kick-off. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Bayer 04 host SC Paderborn at the BayArena on matchday 10 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The game against the newly promoted team is on Saturday, 21 November with the a 15:30 CET kick-off. The latest information on ticket sales.
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“School education: a key to success in a sporting career?” – this and other questions relating to dual training in sport, particularly in football, took centre stage at the EDU-DC Conference at the BayArena. The event, held in the Premium Lounge, brought together experts from top clubs and associations from 24 nations, including England, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. Representatives from Bayer 04 and TSV Bayer 04 provided insights into the interplay between school and sport at the Werkself.
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Decision made: Germany will submit a bid to the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to host the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Munich. The representatives of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) voted for Munich over Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr at their extraordinary meeting in Baden-Baden on Saturday 26 September. Berlin had already withdrawn from the vote a few days earlier.
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