Up till now, Bremen have found it difficult to score on home turf and have yet to win at home in three attempts. Werder haven't even scored a single goal at home, with all 12 netted so far coming away from home. As a result, the Green and Whites currently lie second from bottom in the home table with just one point from three games, while they're second in the away rankings with ten out of a possible 12 points.
The fact that Leverkusen have lost just one of their last 14 competitive matches against Bremen should also give them confidence. In March 2019, they went down 3-1 at the BayArena. The last away defeat was even longer ago. The Black & Reds lost 2-1 in October 2016, meaning Werder Bremen's last home win against the Werkself was eight years ago..
Both sides have several players capable of getting onto the scoresheet. While the Werkself's 18 Bundesliga goals to date have come from a total of ten different players, eight different scorers have netted a total of 12 goals for Bremen this season.
Alonso and his team can look forward to terrific support in Bremen: 4,200 Leverkusen supporters will watch the game at the Weserstadion, meaning the visitors' block is sold out. Incidentally, it was moved from the upper tier to the lower tier at the start of the season.
The last occasion on which the Werkself and Werder Bremen met was on 14 April 2024, a historic day for Bayer 04. The Black & Reds won 5-0 at the BayArena and were crowned German champions for the first time in the club's history. Florian Wirtz scored the first hat-trick of his professional career - just one of many stories to come out of this match. When asked about it at yesterday's press conference, head coach Xabi Alonso said: "It's a wonderful memory we'll never forget. But it's a new season now, the game back then no longer has any bearing."
Bremen are currently eighth in the table with 11 points. Above all, the north German side have impressed above all with their team spirit. Around a month ago at TSG Hoffenheim, for example, coach Ole Werner's team came back from being 3-0 down early on to win 4-3. At VfL Wolfsburg, SVW trailed 1-0 but won 4-2 in the end. "We stuck to what we wanted to play and really upped the ante in terms of quality and accuracy. That was really good football," said Werner after the game. Further information on today's opposition can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
The Bayer 04 fan support team has put together a comprehensive travel package for the many fans travelling to the match. It's available HERE.
There will be a minute's silence in honour of former Werder goalkeeper Dieter Burdenski ahead of kick-off. Bremen's honorary captain and record appearance-maker in the Bundesliga passed away unexpectedly on 9 October at the age of 73. Both teams will wear black armbands.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Florian Badstübner as the referee for the clash at the Weserstadion. The 33-year-old has previously taken charge of three competitive matches involving the Werkself (two wins, one draw). Markus Schüller and Philipp Hüwe will assist Badstübner on the touchline today, with Pascal Müller on VAR duty.
As usual, Werkself Radio is available for anyone unable to be at today's game. The audio broadcast begins 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Niko Hartmann and Cedric Pick. 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.
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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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 personal 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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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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