Bayer 04 and Heidenheim haven't faced each other very often in the past, with just three meetings between the two clubs in professional football. All of those have come in the last six years, with the Black-and-Reds doing the double in the league last season (4-1 at home, 2-1 away). Frank Schmidt's side came out on top in the last 16 of the DFB Cup in 2018/19, though, winning 2-1.
Talking of Schmidt, the 50-year-old is now in his 18th season as head coach of Heidenheim, making him by far the longest-serving boss in the Bundesliga. In fact, no coach in German professional football has ever been in charge of one club consecutively for longer than Schmidt. When he took over at FCH in September 2007, the club was in the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga, the fifth level of the pyramid. Via the Regionalliga South and then the third and second divisions, Heidenheim were promoted to the top flight for the first time in 2023 and qualified for European football in their debut season.
And they've more than proven they belong there too, with three wins from three matches putting them level on points with leaders Chelsea - their next opponents in the Conference League. However, it's not been going as well in the league lately. Having started with back-to-back victories, Heidenheim have won just one of their eight games since and taken just one point from the last five.
Strong physicality, high work rate and intensity without the ball define FCH's football. They're hard to hit on the counter having conceded just once after an opposition transition this season. Schmidt's men contest an average of 111 duels per game (a league high), and with a success rate of 53 percent they're among the top three in Germany. What's also admirable is that they've coped well with the departure of three key players over the summer. In Tim Kleindienst (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Jan-Niklas Beste (Benfica) and Eren Dinkci (SC Freiburg), Heidenheim lost their three most prolific attacking players. Despite that, they've managed to put together a competitive squad this season that's capable of fighting on two fronts in the Bundesliga and Conference League. More on our opponents in our in-depth profile.
As the year nears its end, Bayer 04 would like to honour some Bayer 04 fan clubs in the last three Bundesliga home games in 2024 to say thank you for their great support this year. At today's match against Heidenheim, Leverkusen fan clubs with 10-15 years of existence will be honoured during the half-time break and will be presented by Fernando Carro, CEO of Bayer 04.
Bastian Dankert is the referee for today's meeting. The 44-year-old has taken charge of 14 competitive matches involving the Werkself to date (W7 D1 L6). Assisting Dankert today are René Rohde and Marcel Unger, with Felix Zwayer deployed as the VAR.
A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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So here we go again: Four weeks after the 2-0 home win in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, Olympiacos host the Werkself at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis this Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET - live on Werkself Radio) for the second encounter in a short space of time. It's the first leg of the knockout play-offs, and it's likely to be another high-intensity clash in a fiery atmosphere.
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The Werkself impressed in the 4-0 home win over FC St. Pauli with a performance that pleased head coach Kasper Hjulmand that had previously being missing and which he now wants to "use as a boost". Defenders Jarell Quansah and Edmond Tapsoba in particular once again stood firm at the back and scored at the other end - the latter now has the most goal involvements by a centre-back in the top five leagues. However, the Bayer 04 players are already looking forward to the forthcoming fixtures with a hunger for success and optimism. The Werkself review of the game on Carnival Saturday.
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