This is the 25th time the Werkself will face Augsburg in the Bundesliga. The head-to-head record is very much in favour of the Black and Reds. Augsburg’s average points haul against Bayer 04 is their second-worst against any opponent in the top flight. However, the Bavarians won both encounters last season, which were in fact their first two victories over Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
Augsburg sit bottom of the Bundesliga table this season for possession (41.2%) and also play on average the fewest passes per game (366). The Werkself are top in terms of both passes per 90 minutes (673) and most passes completed per game (596), while Xabi Alonso’s men rank second for possession (60.7%).
The Werkself will enjoy plenty of support in their opening game of the year with 2,300 Leverkusen fans making the journey to Bavaria to cheer on Alonso’s side. That total is over three times more than the club’s previous highest number of supporters for a game in Augsburg (647 last season).
For those supporters in attendance, the Bayer 04 Fan Liaison team has summarised everything you need to know about today’s game in Augsburg HERE, including information on how to get there and who to speak to if required.
In honour of the recently deceased Franz Beckenbauer, a minute’s silence will be held at all football matches across Germany this weekend, as well as in the DFB-Pokal, which the Kaiser won four times as a player. The German football legend, who won the World Cup as a player (1974) and manager (1990), passed away last Sunday at the age of 78.
Augsburg have enjoyed a big improvement since Jess Thorup took over as coach in October. The Bavarians had only five points from their first seven games under Enrico Maaßen and had also been knocked out of the cup in the first round by third division Unterhaching. Augsburg remained unbeaten in the Dane’s first six games at the helm, earning 12 of a possible 18 points to climb from 15th to ninth in the table. They had a slight dip at the end of the year with only one point from their final three matches, with the defeats at Werder Bremen (2-0) and VfB Stuttgart (3-0) the first under Thorup’s watch. Augsburg got back to winning ways with a 1-0 friendly triumph over Hoffenheim last week. Although it counted for nothing, it was the team’s first clean sheet of this season. They are yet to manage that in a competitive fixture in 2023/24. You can find out more about today’s opponents in our profile piece.
The German FA (DFB) have appointed Sven Jablonski as today’s referee. The 33-year-old has overseen 12 Werkself fixtures across all competitions before, with eight wins, one draw and three defeats. His assistants are Lasse Koslowski and Dominik Schaal. The VAR is Daniel Siebert.
As usual, Werkself Radio is available for anybody unable to be at today's game. The audio broadcast in German begins 30 minutes before kick-off. In addition, the live text update service will keep you up-to-date to ensure you don't miss any of the key match action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available on bayer04.de and in the Bayer 04 app.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be the first Bundesliga team to hold their pre-season training camp in South America. The 2024 Bundesliga and DFB Cup winners will be in Rio de Janeiro from 14 to 24 July. Under the motto "Esquenta!" ("warm up"), the Werkself will prepare for the new campaign at the training facility of Flamengo Rio de Janeiro, one of the most renowned and largest clubs in South America.
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The Werkself ended the 2024/25 season as runners-up with the third equal highest number of points in the club's history (69) and went the full Bundesliga campaign without an away defeat since 2023/24. As in previous years, you now have the opportunity to vote for your Player of the Season. The vote is exclusive to members of the Bayer 04 Club and only on the Bayer 04 app.
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After a brilliant record season with 43 points and a total of 13 wins in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga, the Bayer 04 Women finished with a historically successful fourth position in the table in the 2024/25 campaign. As in previous years, you now have the opportunity to vote for your women’s team Player of the Season. The vote is exclusive to members of the Bayer 04 Club and only on the Bayer 04 app.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 ground staff: after 2021/22 and 2022/23, the pitch in the BayArena has once again been named ‘Pitch of the Year’ in the Bundesliga in 2024/25. VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern München follow in second and third place this year.
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