Visitors to the stadium our urgently asked to make their way to the BayArena in good time. The reason for that are to road closures the fans should be aware of:
A1: The A1 between the Leverkusen-West and Leverkusen junctions is closed in both directions until Monday, 20 January at 05.00 CET. That is due to work on the Rhine Bridge. People travelling on the A1 in the direction of Dortmund will be diverted onto the A59 in the direction of Düsseldorf as well people travelling in the direction of Koblenz.
Westring: The Westring between Rheinallee and Nobelstraße is fully closed in both directions until Sunday, 26 January at 17.00 CET. It is not possible to access the A1 via the A59. The diversion – signposted with yellow signs (U2/U11) – will take road users via Europaring, Schießbergstraße and Rheinallee.
Bayer 04 are unbeaten in the last ten Bundesliga matches against Borussia Mönchengladbach (eight wins, two draws). The Foals do not have a longer losing run against any other club. The two points gained in this period by Borussia came in the last two away games at the BayArena (0-0 in 2023/24 and 2-2 in 2022/23).
This season, the Foals have not dropped any points after taking the lead. Leverkusen have picked up the most points after going behind (nine along with VfB Stuttgart).
And here is a top match fact: Borussia Mönchengladbach have not won any of their last 13 Saturday night top games since a 3-0 home victory over RB Leipzig in September 2022 – no other Bundesliga side has gone so long without a win in those fixtures. The only defeat for the Black and Reds in the last 51 league games came on a Saturday night top match (Matchday to in 2024/25, a 3-2 defeat against RB Leipzig).
The new year definitely hasn’t started as expected for the team under former Werkself coach Gerardo Seoane with back-to-back defeats at home to Bayern Munich (0-1) and then away at Wolfsburg (1-5) seeing the Foals drop to eleventh in the Bundesliga. But Gladbach have had a good Hinrunde overall. The Foals climbed up to sixth place in the middle of November after a strong run winning five of nine games between Matchdays 7 and 15 (plus three draws). And they are just four points behind a European finish at the moment. For that reason, the team do not want to get obsessed by the heavy defeat in Wolfsburg. Further on information on Borussia Mönchengladbach can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
As for the home game against Mainz 05, Bayer 04 are offering fans a 30% discount on selected vegan dishes at Veggie Corner. The offer runs up to and including the Champions League home game against Sparta Prague (Wednesday, 29 January, 21.00 CET). On offer:
Please note: The discount only applies the above-mentioned products. All other items are charge of the regular prices.
Anyone wanting to discover the latest information ahead of kick-off can take a look at the new Werkself Live. The matchday magazine, which includes key facts and stats on the match, is available at the BayArena. Alternatively it is available free online. HERE is the e-paper.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Harm Osmers in charge of today's game. The 39-year-old referee has previously officiated 17 games involving the Werkself (ten wins, four draws, three defeats). His assistants today are Dominik Schaal and Stefan Lupp with Patrick Hanslbauer in action as the VAR.
The match will be broadcast live on Sky. As ever, supporters unable to be at the match can follow the game on Werkself Radio. The audio broadcast starts 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Niko Hartmann and Cedric Pick. In addition, the live text update service will keep fans up-to-date. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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