The Werkself have become a real force on their travels, including in Bremen. While Bayer 04 haven’t lost an away game in the Bundesliga for two whole seasons, it’s almost nine years (seven games) since they lost at the Weserstadion. It’s also just one defeat in the last 10 meetings home or away, although that came in the most recent in March.
Werder, though, rediscovered their home comforts at the end of last season and haven’t conceded a single goal in any of their last four Bundesliga outings on their own patch.
The start of this season has been very different, though. After DFB Pokal elimination at the hands of Arminia Bielefeld, they were then beaten 4-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt in their opening Bundesliga match. “Lots of things aren’t going right,” admitted captain Marco Friedl afterwards. The Green-Whites have lost two key players in goalkeeper Michael Zetterer and striker Marvin Ducksch. Karl Hein from Arsenal and Samuel Mbangula from Juventus have arrived with the intention of filling those gaps.
An injury crisis has also compounded things, with up to seven senior players ruled out or a doubt to face Leverkusen, including Friedl and midfield general Jens Stage. It’s not an easy situation for new head coach Horst Steffen, who previously led Elversberg from the fourth tier to the verge of Bundesliga promotion in last season’s play-off. Here’s more on today’s opponents HERE.
The Werkself can once again look forward to great support in Bremen, with 3,800 fans making the trip from Leverkusen. Information for travelling fans can be found HERE.
The German FA (DFB) have appointed Dr Robin Braun to oversee this game – the fourth of his career in the Bundesliga. The 29-year-old previously took charge of the Werkself’s 3-1 win at home to Hoffenheim in February. His assistants are Florian Heft and Asmir Osmanagic. The fourth official is Richard Hempel, with Tobias Welz as VAR.
Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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