Exciting info on the clash between the Black and Reds and BVB is available on the matchday flyer Werkself LIVE. The special attraction of the new publication is: On the one side there are key stats on the meeting with the Black and Yellows and on the other side a poster with our new France international Moussa Diaby. That sets you up for the matchday at the BayArena. Click HERE for the e-paper.
The man in charge of the top match in front of a crowd of 17,605 at a sold-out BayArena is Daniel Siebert. He is assisted by Lasse Koslowski and Mark Borsch. The VAR match official is Guido Winkmann.
If you believe the statistics then the spectators can look forward to an outstanding offensive display. The reason: The Werkself have only scored more goals at home in the Bundesliga against Borussia Mönchengladbach (82) then they have against BVB (79). The Black and Reds have come out on top in the last two meetings at the BayArena – with 2-1 and 4-3 wins. In addition, Leverkusen and Dortmund are level with Bayern Munich as the teams currently with the most goals in the Bundesliga (nine each).
Werkself Radio will be reporting live as usual. Our commentator Niko Hartmann will start setting the scene for the top match half an hour before kick-off. He will be reporting live from the BayArena – just log onto the brand new Bayer 04 app or bayer04.de.
The game will also be broadcast live and exclusively on the pay-TV channel Sky.
Kerem Demirbay faces his former club Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. The 28-year-old came through the ranks at the Black and Yellow youth set-up and he went on to make 28 appearances for the BVB second team in the third division. The current Borussia squad also has two players with a Bayer 04 past. Julian Brandt (2014-19) and Emre Can (2013-14) both played for the Werkself.
Dortmund head coach Marco Rose will have to manage without a number of players for the away game at Bayer 04. Giovanni Reyna, Thorgan Hazard, Emre Can and Nico Schulz are ruled out due to injury. There is also a question mark over Thomas Meunier who returned from international duty with Belgium with a knock.
Rose's hopes currently rest on the former Leverkusen player Julian Brandt who appears to be back to full strength after a coronavirus infection and it seems highly likely that he will replace the injured Reyna in the starting line-up. "Jule is up for it," declared BVB coach Rose at the pre-match press conference. "He had an outstanding pre-season but then had to isolate but now he's got two weeks training and time on the pitch under his belt."
It took exactly 60 minutes for the Werkself to take the lead through a perfectly finished counter-attack by Patrik Schick in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off at Olympiacos. Referring to the meeting in the league phase and the initially squandered opportunities, coach Kasper Hjulmand said afterwards: "I thought: 'Oh no, déjà-vu.'" But after the opening goal, it took just 144 seconds for the Czech to spark more wild celebrations among those in black and red in the Greek cauldron, when Schick nodded in Alejandro Grimaldo's corner. Much to the delight of the Bayer 04 fans, his teammates and his coach, who had warm words for the striker in the aftermath. The Werkself Review.
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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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