After days off at the start of the week as a reward for successful qualification for the Champions League, his team “were focused and in good mood in training,” as Gerardo Seoane explained on Friday afternoon. The Swiss coach is full of anticipation: “It’s our last game of the season, the atmosphere will be great – I feel everybody is really keen to play tomorrow.”
And the target is clear: a win – for the fans but also for Rudi Völler. The Hanau-born former Germany international joined Leverkusen as player in 1994 and he went on to become caretaker coach, sporting director and most recently the Bayer 04 sporting managing director. The 43-year-old coach was full of praise for the 62-year-old: “We have all benefited from Rudi’s experience and know-how and we what he has done for Bayer 04 and German football. We are very happy he will stay on in another role and we wish him all the best.” After this season, Völler will join the shareholders committee at the club and also be a Bayer 04 ambassador.
While the Werkself are certain of finishing third, Freiburg in fifth place, with a two-point gap to RB Leipzig (away to Bielefeld) in fourth, are still in with a chance of qualifying for the Champions League. “They are at the top end of the table for a reason and have absolutely deserved to qualify for Europe,” declared Seoane who primarily highlighted the strength of tomorrow’s opponents from set pieces.
Tomorrow’s game will also be the final game for Werkself player Julian Baumgartlinger. The now 34-year-old midfielder joined Bayer 04 from Mainz 05 six years ago and he went on to make over 150 appearances for the Black and Reds. Seoane said Baumi would play against SCF and he thanked him for his commitment in a Werkself shirt: “We are all very grateful to have such a player and person in our ranks. Even though he’s had a lot of bad luck with injuries this season he was always close the team and, above all, he was ready to help young players at all times. We really wish him a good future and hope he will stay fit and healthy.”
Kerem Demirbay is definitely ruled out through injury. Jeremie Frimpong is also not in the squad. “It’s come too early for him,” said Seoane who is thinking about possible changes in his line-up but he was unwilling to share his ideas at the press conference.
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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