The Werkself and Borussia have already played each other twice this season with both games at Gladbach's Borussia Park stadium. The two matches – the spectacular away victory in the league (5-1) as well as the hard-fought DFB Cup Round of 16 tie (1-0) – saw Herrlich's men come out on top. If the Werkself clock up a third win against the recently disappointing Rhine rivals, Bayer 04 could maintain the gap over a direct rival and also keep in touch with positions two to four in the table. And beyond that, also make history. The Werkself did achieve the league double over Gladbach in 2013/14 but the Black and Reds have never inflicted three defeats on the Foals in one season. The BayArena is not completely sold out for tonight's game and tickets are available at the ground this evening.
This will be the 72nd meeting of the two teams in the Bundesliga. Out of 26 wins for the Werkself, 19 have come at home – Bayer 04 have only won as many home games in the league against Hamburg SV. Moreover, Bayer 04 have not scored more goals against any other team in Germany's top flight (135 goals), above all not on home turf: The record show 75 goals against Gladbach at home – and the Werkself have only been able to celebrate as often at home against HSV. But beware! The Werkself lost their last two games at the BayArena with Herrlich's team unable to find the back of the net (0-2 against Hertha and 0-2 against Schalke). The last time the Black and Reds lost three games at home in succession was four years ago.
Last Saturday at Wolfsburg, Heiko Herrlich brought on Julian Brandt with 57 minutes played. Eleven minutes later, the substitute showed what he could do with a delightful lob to make it 2-0 – an important strike as the Wolves hit back a minute later with a goal from former Leverkusen striker Admir Mehmedi. Brandt's goal was the sixth scored by a Werkself substitute this season. In this Bundesliga campaign, that magic touch has otherwise only been shown by the coaches of Mainz 05 and Hannover 96. And it was also the second goal from the bench for Brandt this term.
Tin Jedvaj picked up a thigh injury on Tuesday. At yesterday's pre-match press conference, Heiko Herrlich revealed the Croat would not be available for this weekends fixture. On the plus side, the Bayer 04 head coach can again call on the services of Panos Retsos after he served a one-match ban. The same goes for Dominik Kohr. Two Werkself players are on the verge of suspension: Skipper Lars Bender and Lucas Alario are both on four yellow cards ahead of the game against Gladbach. If there is to be a fifth booking tonight then it will be issued by Robert Hartmann, the man in the middle.
If everything goes right for the Werkself tonight then it will be away defeat number 400 for Borussia Mönchengladbach. The last round number of defeats inflicted by the Werkself was three weeks ago: In the middle of February, Bayer 04 made it 200 Bundesliga home defeats for HSV, the first club to achieve this unenviable record. Talking of 200. The Werkself captain Lars Bender is on the verge of making his 200th appearance in the Bundesliga – with all of those games in a Leverkusen shirt.
Tonight (Saturday), Autobahn 1 (in the direction of Dortmund) will only have one lane open from 16.00 to 21.00 CET as advised by Straßen NRW. That means there is likely to be increased traffic in this area. All fans (particularly our guests from the Lower Rhine) travelling by car are recommended to use other motorways to get to the BayArena. For example, via the A44 / A3 or A57 / A46 / A59. Current information on roadworks in Leverkusen is available at: www.a-bei-lev.nrw.de
Tonight brings the first Saturday night match of the season for the Werkself – the kick-off at the BayArena is at 18.30 CET. To give fans the opportunity to watch the afternoon games on matchday 26 the Schwadbud (East Stand) is not opening its doors two hours before kick-off but instead at 15.00 CET – to show the Sky coverage of the games. After the final whistle of the four 15.30 CET matches, there is chance to get in the mood for the floodlit match with the traditional round-table discussion. The two former professional footballers Peter Klimke (125 second division - and 57 top-flight appearances for Bayer 04) and Walter Posner (Champion of Germany and UEFA Cup winner with Mönchengladbach, 141 second division - and 134 first division appearances for Bayer 04) our tonight's guests. Following the final whistle, Werkself pro Wendell is expected to make an appearance in the Schwadbud. The Brazilian is set to take part in the #W11Fantalk to analyse the 90 minutes of action with stadium announcer Tobias Ufer, fan liaison officer Rüdiger Vollborn or Frank Linde and a fan. Do you have any questions for Wendell? If so, please submit them via Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #W11Fantalk. It all starts at 21.15 CET – and broadcast on www.bayer04.de and our Facebook page.
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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To all Bayer 04 fans: The Fanwelt will be closed all day next Monday 30 June. This is due to preparations for the change of kit supplier from Castore to New Balance on Tuesday 1 July.
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The Norway U23 international Julie Jorde has completed the move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Brøndby IF. The twelve-time champions of Denmark have signed the midfielder on permanent terms after her loan move from the Bundesliga to Denmark in the winter.
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It is almost two years since Bayer 04 new signing Abdoulaye Faye first stepped foot into the BayArena as a player for the Swedish club BK Häcken in the opening match in the 2023/24 Europa League campaign. A day before his nineteenth birthday, the central defender did not play in the 4-0 win for the Werkself but it was "an incredible night" for him on 21 September 2023 as he explained in his first interview on bayer04.de. "I watched the players and saw the fans. I liked it." It was also the first European night early on in his career. He only joined the then champions of Sweden in the cold north of Europe from his home in Senegal a few weeks before that special moment. Bayer04.de profiles our new defender.
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Welcome, Abdoulaye Faye. The 20-year-old Senegalese central defender joins Leverkusen from top-flight Swedish club BK Häcken. In his first interview he talks about his move to Bayer 04 and his targets with the Werkself.
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