Mainz 05 triumphed in this fixture last season with a 3-2 win at the BayArena. For the Black-and-Reds it was one of only three home league defeats in total under Xabi Alonso, while for Mainz it's one of just two away wins in the league since October 2022. Bayer 04 came out on top in the last encounter though, winning 3-0 earlier this season.
The two sides have met competitively 36 times in total, with a slight advantage for the Werkself, who have won 19 games. Twelve have gone the way of Mainz, while just five have ended in a draw.
New boss Bo Henriksen, Mainz's third head coach of this season after Bo Svensson and Jan Siewert, got off to a perfect start with a 1-0 win against FC Augsburg last weekend. It ended a run of 11 games without a win and was only their second success of the current campaign. The Rhineland-Palatinate club, who signed Nadiem Amiri from Leverkusen in January, are particularly physical in their play. No side have contested more tackles per game than the 05ers this season (118). Two other stats underline this point: Mainz have registered the most fouls (298) and second-most cards (61). Read a more thorough analysis of the opponents HERE.
Bayer 04 is using the home game against Mainz as an opportunity to organise the second Bayer Sports Family Match Day of the season. With this event and many others, the historic connection between Bayer 04, TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Bayer AG is being passionately revived under the Cross. Numerous activities centred around the Bayer sports clubs and Bayer AG will provide a special setting today. The programme for the themed match day starts with the stadium opening at 18:30 CET in the area around the BayArena and offers a wide range of highlights. More information can be found HERE.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Timo Gerach as the referee for tonight's fixture. The 37-year-old has officiated two matches involving the Werkself to date, with the Black-and-Reds winning both. Gerard will be assisted on the touchlines by Florian Heft and Robert Wessel, with Felix Zwayer as the VAR.
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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