Friday morning brought the Werkself a recovery session in the form of a relaxed run on the beach at Tel Aviv. With three important points in the Europa League banked after the 4-2 win against Hapoel Be’er Sheva on Thursday, double goalscorer Leon Bailey and Co. returned to the Rhineland after a four-hour flight. “We have a long day behind us,” summed up Peter Bosz, “but coming back with a win always helps when you’re heavy-legged.”
The final pre-match training session ahead of the big match against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday 8 November (kick-off: 18.00 CET/live on Sky and on Werks11 Radio at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app) was held on Saturday afternoon. “Gladbach have had two more days to recover. But we will be ready on Sunday and we want to extend our run with three wins in succession,” declared Bosz, who can call on Karim Bellarabi, after his suspension for the game in Israel, and Mitchell Weiser, who is not in the Europa League squad, for the game against the Rhine rivals. Santiago Arias, Paulinho and Charles Aránguiz are ruled out but Patrik Schick could be in the squad.
Bayer 04 are looking to get a result against Borussia to secure fourth place. With twelve points in the bag, the Werkself have one point more and are a place above Mönchengladbach – who beat Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 last Tuesday in the club’s biggest win in the Champions League. Bosz finished by saying: “They will be very confident. But we know all about the team. We’re aiming to beat them.”
Match information:
Broadcasters: Sky and Werks11 Radio
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the matchday.
The Leverkusen eSports team played the remaining three of the six matches in the online preliminary round of the fourth showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. RB Leipzig and SC Freiburg were among the teams with the highest goal threat, including two World Cup participants in their ranks. Although the #B04eSports players were defeated in the matches overall, nine points from the first three games last week were enough for Leverkusen to advance to the offline round in Berlin on 2 February.
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A decisive showdown awaits: The Werkself are aiming to progress to the play-off round of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League with a home win against Villarreal CF on the eighth and final matchday of the league phase. Ahead of the match on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the importance of the game, the possible return of Edmond Tapsoba and a statement from new signing Jonas Omlin in an exclusive interview with Werkself TV. Lucas Vázquez, for his part, spoke about his role on and off the pitch as well as tomorrow’s opponents, who he often faced in Spain with Real Madrid.
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For Villarreal CF, the match at Bayer 04 on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), will be their last appearance on the European stage this season. The Spanish side, currently fourth in La Liga, are still without a win in the UEFA Champions League and, with just one point from their seven games so far, have no chance of making the play-offs. The 2021 Europa League winners can therefore play without any pressure at the BayArena and will be looking to bow out of the competition with a good performance. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will to have manage without forward Eliesse Ben Seghir. The Morocco international suffered a ligament injury in his left ankle before the AFCON final defeat against Senegal (0-1 a.e.t.).
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The VBL Club Championship 2025/26 continues. Tonight, 27 January (live on Twitch and on the Bayer 04 app from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports team will play the remaining three matches in the online preliminary round of Showdown Four. They are up against FC Kaiserslautern, SC Freiburg and the current club champions and Showdown Three winners RB Leipzig, with whom Bayer 04, club runners-up and Showdown One winners, shared some memorable moments, especially last year. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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