At the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, the initial overriding theme amongst the journalists was the exit from the Europa League the night before. “We’re in a difficult phase. Going out of the DFB Cup and the Europa League are both a huge disappointment for all of us,” declared head coach Peter Bosz. After the 4-3 defeat in the first leg against Young Boys Bern, the Werkself lost the second knockout match against the Swiss serial champions on Thursday night – scoreline 0-2. Bosz: “But we carry on. Now we have to concentrate on the Bundesliga and do everything we possibly can.”
So that the exit from the European competition is dealt with before the clash with SC Freiburg, Bosz said the analysis, “had taken its time. I was not the only one to speak, the players did too. It’s clear to us we have to get a result against Freiburg. We’ve got two days to prepare.”
The aim is do more work in terms of possession football and positional play. Qualities that took the Werkself to the top of the league during December. “We know we can play very good football,” Bosz made clear. “If we win games then there’s obviously more confidence in the team. We want want to return to that.”
Moussa Diaby is not available for the game against the ninth-placed team from southern Germany. The winger picked up a fifth yellow card in the 1-1 draw at FC Augsburg. It is possible that Sven Bender may return to the squad. The experienced defender was rested for the Friday morning training session to help his reintroduction after injury. Bosz on the 31-year-old: “We’ll have to wait and see if he can take part in the final pre-match training session tomorrow. If not, he won’t be in the squad on Sunday.”
The next opponents from Freiburg started riding a wave of success at the turn of the year and SCF did register five wins on the bounce. But, the team under longstanding coach Christian Streich – head coach at SCF since 2011 – lost 1-0 at Union Berlin last time out. His opposite number Bosz sounded a warning: “I’m expecting Freiburg to be an opponent who has watched us closely in our recent games. But: We have to fully focus on ourselves and give our all. How do you put it? – With a knife between the teeth.”
Match info:
Broadcasters: Sky and Werks11 Radio
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the day of the match
Video game producer Electronic Arts (EA) has announced the nominees for the Men's and Women's Team of the Year (TOTY) for EA Sports FC 26. With Patrik Schick and Alejandro Grimaldo for the men and Vanessa Fudalla for the women, there are three Bayer 04 players included. Fans of the Black-and-Reds can vote for each top XI of 2025 from now until 18:59 CET on Monday 12 January.
Show more
The Werkself host Mainz at the BayArena on matchday 24 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The match is on Saturday, 28 February, at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
Show more
The long-standing successful collaboration between Bayer 04 and the transport service provider wupsi GmbH has been expanded: From January 2026, 100 wupsi bikes with Bayer 04 branding will be available for hire throughout the city of Leverkusen. They will complement the many existing offers and services that provide key support, especially for fans travelling to and from home matches at the BayArena.
Show more
The Werkself are back! Following the two-week winter break, head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team began the new year with an open session on Sunday. After Robert Andrich and his teammates arrived in Leverkusen yesterday for the official check-in, they got back down to business a day later in front of around 1,200 fans at the Ulrich Haberland Stadion. The report from the Werkself's first session of 2026.
Show more
