This is only the third competitive meeting between Heidenheim and Leverkusen at professional level. It is the first time the Werkself will visit the top flight’s newest club in the Bundesliga. It’s also an encounter featuring the three players who’ve covered the most ground in the division this season with Heidenheim’s Lennard Maloney (250.8 km/ 155.8 miles) up against Leverkusen duo Granit Xhaka (249.9 km/ 155.3 miles) and Alejandro Grimaldo (244.5 km/ 151.9 miles).
Heidenheim are currently 10th in the table with 27 points in their first-ever season at this level. They have moved comfortably clear of the relegation zone in recent weeks thanks to an eight-game unbeaten run, which is currently the best streak in the Bundesliga behind the Werkself. Frank Schmidt’s team are top when it comes to putting in the hard yards with a cumulative total of 2,557 kilometres (1,588 miles) covered by the team over 21 matches. Find out more about Heidenheim in our opposition profile.
Heidenheim have been led by coach Schmidt since the 2007/08 season when they were still in the fourth-tier Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. It makes the 50-year-old the longest-serving coach in the Bundesliga and in fact in German professional football history.
Heidenheim’s Voith-Arena is also the highest stadium in Germany’s top three divisions at 555 metres (1,820 feet) above sea level. It has a capacity of 15,000, making it the smallest ground in this year’s Bundesliga.
Bayer 04 midfielder Robert Andrich is making his first competitive return to Heidenheim, where he spent a Bundesliga 2 campaign under Schmidt in 2018/19. He quickly became a key part of the team there and caught the attention of newly promoted Union Berlin as they prepared for the Bundesliga in 2019. After two years in Berlin, Andrich moved to the BayArena.
Around 2,000 fans are making the trip to Heidenheim to support the Werkself. The Bayer 04 fan liaison team has put together all the key information on this away game as usual. You can find all that HERE.
The German FA (DFB) have appointed Harm Osmers as today’s referee. The 39-year-old has previously overseen 13 Werkself fixtures, with six wins, four draws and three defeats. His assistants are Robert Kemper and Dominik Schaal. Katrin Rafalski is the VAR.
As usual, Werkself Radio is available for anybody unable to be at today's game. The audio broadcast 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 at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.
Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
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Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
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Bayer 04 start the 2026/27 season away to third-division side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Ahead of the DFB Pokal tie on Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez spoke at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The topics: anticipation, passion, the fans’ support – and the captaincy for the new season.
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After 62 days of preparation, the time has finally come: the Werkself kick off the new Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga season on Sunday (16:00 CEST) with an away match at RB Leipzig. Following a major shake-up over the summer, with eleven players leaving and twelve new signings, initial impressions from the past few weeks have given manager Roberto Pätzold great cause for optimism.
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SV Wehen Wiesbaden undoubtedly envisaged a different start to the new season. After two matchdays, the Hessen side currently sit bottom of the Liga 3 table. On Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), SVWW host the Werkself in the first round of the DFB Pokal at their home ground, the BRITA Arena. It was there, in this very competition a year ago, that the club almost pulled off a massive upset. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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