In the Bundesliga, the Werkself on 20 points are one place and one point behind Borussia Dortmund (21 points). In the event of a win for Bayer 04 they would go above the DFB Cup winners. Three points would also mean parity in the Bundesliga records: In the preceding 76 encounters, the Black and Reds have won 27 times, just one less than BVB and there have been 21 draws. Remarkably the Werkself have scored just one goal less to date (112 to 113).
Talking about goals. The Werkself are the third-highest goalscorers behind Borussia Dortmund (33) and Bayern Munich (31). The last time Bayer 04 scored as many goals in the first 13 matchdays within the 2013/14 season (then it was 28). The team under head coach Heiko Herrlich have scored 11 of their last 12 goals in the second half. This season, Bayer 04 found the back of the net 17 times after the half-time break – the highest number in the league.
The poor home form at the BayArena of last term is in the past: Over the two seasons, the Werkself have not lost any of the last seven league home fixtures (three wins, four draws) and have also always scored at least two goals per game on their own turf. In the Bundesliga, only FC Bayern are unbeaten longer in front of their own fans (28 games). Moreover,Bayer 04 have only won more games at home in Germany's top flight against Hamburg SV and Borussia Mönchengladbach (19) than against BVB (18).
It could be that the encounter with the Champions League participants comes just at the right time: Last season's third-placed team in the league have only picked up two points in the last six Bundesliga fixtures, the only club with a poorer return during that period are bottom of the table FC Köln with just one point. In each of the six matches, the Dortmund team under coach Peter Bosz have conceded at least two goals – with a total of 18. In contrast, the Werkself have increased their points tally in the last six Bundesliga matches by 12 with 13 goals scored and seven conceded.
The Werkself have not lost in eight top-flight matches. Kevin Volland has played a significant part in that success with his contribution in the last five league games (four goals, one assist). With eight goals so far, Volland is third highest scorer behind Robert Lewandowski (13, FC Bayern) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (11, BVB) making him the most reliable German goalscorer. On top of that, the 25-year-old has scored the opener four times this season – also the highest number in the league.
'Hello again' will apply to Heiko Herrlich and Sven Bender on Saturday. Bayer 04 head coach Herrlich played for Borussia Dortmund in the last nine years of his career up to 2004 (184 appearances and 57 goals). Sven Bender, who also joined the Werkself in the summer, was at BVB one year less (2009 to 2017 making 224 appearances and scoring four goals). In the BVB squad, Gonzalo Castro (at Bayer 04 from 1999 to 2015, 370 appearances and 30 goals), André Schürrle (2011 to 2013, 83 appearances and 23 goals) and Ömer Toprak (2011 to 2017, 207 appearances and 7 goals) are three familiar faces returning to the BayArena at the weekend – and they are likely to shake the hands of many former team-mates on their return.
There are names to inspire the fans of both clubs: Bernd Schneider, Simon Rolfes, Oliver Neuville, Boris Zivkovic and Marko Babic on the side, Frank Mill, Patrick Owomoyela and Knut Reinhardt on the other – the game between the veterans teams of Bayer 04 and Borussia Dortmund promises to provide high-class skill from many top former pros. Saturday's match will not be played at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium as a new pitch has been laid this week. The old boys match between the Black and Reds and the Black and Yellows kicks off at 13.15 CET just down the road at the Kurt-Rieß Sports Ground – provided the weather plays along and there is no frost or persistent rain to force a postponement. The match lasts for 60 minutes with the players able to watch the Bundesliga clash between the Werkself and BVB at the BayArena afterwards.
It is now a tradition that Werkself Bundesliga home games see famous guests call into the Schwadbud after the match to discuss events on the pitch with stadium announcer Tobias Ufer, fan liaison officer Rüdiger Vollborn or Frank Linde plus a supporter. This time, former stars Boris Zivkovic and Marko Babic are guests at the #W11Fantalk. If you have any questions for the pair please send them in via Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #W11Fantalk. It kicks off around 17.45 CET.
Striker Verena Wieder is leaving Bayer 04 Women after four years to join fellow Google Pixel Bundesliga club Werder Bremen at the end of the season when her contract expires.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, is Bayer 04’s record appearance holder in the Bundesliga with 401 games, and is the only Leverkusen 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 encyclopaedia takes Werkself fans on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month with our series ‘Rudi recounts…’.
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The Werkself are away at Roma for the first leg of their 2023/24 UEFA Europa League semi-final tie on Thursday, 2 May (kick-off 9pm CEST). The Bayer 04 Fan Liaison team has all the info you need for the match at the Stadio Olimpico in the Italian capital…
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Niklas Lomb has been at Bayer 04 for 16 years, joining at U17 level in 2008, and is now able to call himself a Bundesliga champion. After a few loan spells, the goalkeeper is a fixture of the Werkself first team and an “important part of our ambitious team”, according to Simon Rolfes. It’s been an emotional few days for the 30-year-old, who signed a contract extension through to 2027 earlier this month as well.
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