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.
The Werkself host Bayern Munich at the BayArena on matchday 26 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The match is on Saturday, 14 March, with the kick-off at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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Bayer 04’s four-game winning run in all competitions came to an end with a 1-1 draw away at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Bundesliga Matchday 21. Yannik Engelhardt scored early for the hosts, but an own goal from Philipp Sander brought the Werkself back level before the break.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 0-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt on the 17th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Bayer 04 have a score to settle with Borussia Mönchengladbach after their late equaliser in the reverse fixture. But it’s been a while since the points were shared in this fixture at Borussia-Park, where the Werkself have won their last six visits – their best run ever away at a team in the Bundesliga. Victory in Saturday evening’s game (18:30 CET) would also be the team’s fifth in a row in all competitions and their best run this season, while Gladbach are only just above the bottom three after going four games without a win. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the evening’s encounter in our matchday news.
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