Matchday News #B04SVW: ‘!Never Again’ remembrance matchday and Schick's 30th birthday

22nd Day of remembrance in german football

This season - and for the 22nd time in total - the DFL (German Football League) and the 36 German professional clubs are once again joining forces with the ‘!Never Again’ initiative to support the ‘Remembrance Day in German Football’, which always falls on the closest Saturday to 27 January, the day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism in commemoration of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp on 27 January 1945. This year's motto: ‘Defending democracy - learning from football's history’.

In mid-October last year, fans and employees of Bayer 04 travelled to Auschwitz (Polish: Oświęcim) on a five-day memorial trip. Once there, the 25-strong group visited the memorial sites of the Auschwitz I concentration camp (main camp) and the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, among others.

#B04SVW match facts

SVW are not only experiencing a slump in the Bundesliga, having now gone seven games without a win against their recent opponents, but the more recent record against the Werkself also speaks against the North Germans: Bayer 04 are unbeaten in ten of their past 11 Bundesliga clashes with Werder. Although they did lose the last home game against the Green and Whites, the last time Leverkusen lost twice in a row at home to Bremen was almost 18 years ago.

Patrik Schick would also like to continue his run against Bremen coach Horst Steffen on his birthday: The Czechia international has scored in the last two games against teams coached by the 56-year-old - in the first half of the season against Werder and in the second round of the 2024 DFB Cup against SV 07 Elversberg.

focus on Werder

Bremen were just seconds away from their long-awaited fifth Bundesliga win of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt, but an equaliser conceded in stoppage time to make it 3-3 meant that the Green and Whites' winless streak continued. And it's not just in terms of results that things are looking rather rocky for the northern Germans; they're also looking particularly stretched in defence, where three of the four available defenders - Karim Coulibaly, captain Marco Friedl and Amos Pieper - were all recently deployed in a back three. Our comprehensive opposition analysis shows which midfield dynamo and which Bremen top striker the Werkself must keep an eye on.

match officials

The game against the Green and Whites is the eighth for referee Tobias Reichel involving Bayer 04. So far, the Werkself are unbeaten in six of the seven clashes with the 40-year-old in charge and have won four of them. Reichel will be assisted by Christian Bandurski and Marcel Unger on the touchline, with Benjamin Brand taking on VAR duties.