Recent meetings
Werder Bremen have come out on top in most of the recent meetings. The last time the Werkself won was in the first half of the 2015/16 campaign with a 3-0 victory at Bremen. Bremen won both games at the BayArena last season in the league and the DFB Cup. This would be the first time Werder have won three games on the bounce at Leverkusen. Even under Otto Rehhagel in 1989 and 1990 and Thomas Schaaf in 2007 and 2008 they never managed more than two wins in succession away to the Werkself.
Lots of goals and bags of entertainment
The last three clashes between the Werkself and Werder have proved highly entertaining: 15 goals were scored in those matches. After the 73 games between the two sides to date the number of goals scored is equal at 114.
Werder in form
Bremen are currently on a good run. The Green and Whites beat Darmstadt to secure a third Bundesliga win in succession - the last time they achieved that was between December 2014 and February 2015 with five wins on the trot. Max Kruse has been heavily involved in the recent upturn. This year the striker has scored four goals in seven Bundesliga fixtures and that is more than in the whole of the calendar year 2016 when he found the back of the net just three times. Kruse has only been on the winning side against Bayer 04 once with the other games ending in two draws and five defeats.
The Werkself like Fridays
The Werkself have done well in Friday fixtures. In the last 22 Bundesliga home games they have always scored on a Friday and at least twice in the last six matches (16 goals). Hopefully these stats continue in the same vein
Significant absentees
Both teams are missing key players tonight. For Bayer 04 the suspended Hakan Calhanoglu and Jonathan Tah (in rehab training) are joined by Lars Bender who is ruled out of tonight’s squad with an ankle injury. Werder are missing their best striker Serge Gnabry (knee) and stalwart Clemens Fritz. The Bremen captain suffered a torn ligament in his right ankle. He underwent an operation this week and is ruled out for the rest of the season. The 36-year-old played 43 games for Bayer 04 between 2003 and 2006. Get well soon Clemens.
Werder hero Rudi Völler
Rudi Völler and Werder Bremen share a common past: The Bayer 04 sporting director scored 97 of his 132 Bundesliga goals in a green and white shirt putting him in third place in the list of all-time goalscorers at Werder. Only Claudio Pizarro (103 goals) and Marco Bode (101) scored more often for the club. Völler and Bremen sporting director Frank Baumann know each other from the past with Baumann playing for Germany under Völler as coach.
Live action via the LIVE App
The Bayer 04 live app, voted as one of the most innovative apps by a large app blog, is raring to go. You can download the app to follow the Werkself at bit.ly/b04live.
Information for fans travelling by train
Extensive work on the tracks means there are changes to the timetable on Friday in Leverkusen Mitte. This affects the following lines:
RE 1 (Hamm<> Aachen) - The trains are running with changed running times. On the weekend of 11+12 March 2017 does not stop in Leverkusen Mitte in the direction of Cologne; use the S6 service.
RE 5 (Wesel<>Koblenz) - The trains between Cologne Messe/Deutz <> Düsseldorf main station are cancelled. Please use the trains on lines RE1 and S6. A replacement service running on a change timetable will run between Düsseldorf and Wesel without stopping in Oberhausen-Holten and Friedrichsfeld.
S6 (Essen<> Cologne) – Mon. to Fri. one less journey per hour between Cologne <> Düsseldorf. On the weekend of 11+12 March 2017 there will be a reduced number of stops and earlier timetable in the direction of Cologne–Mülheim> Langenfeld (Düsseldorf).
After being nominated for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025, Martin Terrier's wonderful strike for the opener against FC Köln is now also up for selection for the ARD Sportschau Goal of the Month award for December 2025. Bayer 04 fans have until 19:00 CET on 10 January to vote for the French forward.
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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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43 points at the end of the last Bundesliga season were not only more than ever before for the Bayer 04 Women, but also led to a record fourth-place finish. That was followed by a Hinrunde with many more victories, but also some setbacks. In an interview with bayer04.de, sporting director Achim Feifel takes stock at the end of the year.
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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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