Just two days separate tomorrow's game and the 2-1 win against VfB Stuttgart in the DFB Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday. Dortmund played on Tuesday when they went out of the competition after a 3-2 defeat against Werder Bremen. "They’ve had a day more for recovery and training," Peter Bosz said at the pre-match press conference.
The situation with availability in defensive midfield remains unclear: Julian Baumgartlinger, who was ruled out through injury on Wednesday, was not back in full training yesterday. "If he doesn't train today then he won't be in the squad," said Bosz who is also without Kerem Demirbay due to a one-match ban. Charles Aránguiz returned to the training ground this week for individual sessions but is not available for the clash with Borussia Dortmund.
That leaves just one of the four nominal holding midfielders: Exequiel Palacios. The winter signing made his debut for the Black and Reds against Stuttgart after serving a ban relating to his time in Argentina. Bosz: "While he's only played one game, I have seen him in training for a couple of weeks. He's a good player and I hope he can show that in the Bundesliga."
For the position next to Palacios, there are "several options," said Bosz. "Nothing is ruled out. I'll see which players I have available and then consider how we have the best chance of winning with them. That will decide how we play."
A look at the table shows the importance of the game against Dortmund: A win would reduce the gap to BVB to just two points but defeat would extend it to eight. Accordingly, the Bayer 04 head coach Bosz emphasised: "If we want to stay in touch with the top then we have to get a positive result." In addition to the former Leverkusen player Julian Brandt, who Bosz says has made "very good" progress, the focus at the moment is primarily on Dortmund's new signing Erling Haaland. The 19-year-old Norwegian has scored eight goals in his first four games. In response to the question of how to stop Haaland, Bosz answered: "I had the same question about Bayern Munich and Robert Lewandowski. We can only stop players like that as a team – we did that in the first half of the season in Munich. And that's what we want to do again this time."
Match information:
Referee: Markus Schmidt (Stuttgart)
Broadcaster: Sky (TV) and Werkself Radio (bayer04.de)
Attendance: 30,210 (sold-out)
A fresh look for the BayArena: The Bayer 04 stadium will have new seating in the form of folding seats for the 2026/27 campaign that will ensure significantly improved seating comfort and simplified movement within the rows of seats. As part of routine replacement after 17 years, fans of the Werkself were able to purchase the existing seats, used to witness the first German league title in the club's history. In addition, a large proportion of the seats will be donated to charitable projects, primarily in the local region. Bayer 04 fans can look forward to new, functional folding seats for the season opener at the beginning of August - still in the club colours of black and red, of course. A glimpse at the BayArena during the refurbishment.
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On Monday evening, 8 June, around 250 people came to the Bürgerhaus Baumberg at the invitation of Bayer 04 to find out details of the new plans for the campus on Alfred-Nobel-Straße at an information event. More compact, greener and with many advantages for Monheim am Rhein - those are the aims. There were lively discussions for around three hours and some misunderstandings were cleared up.
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Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and Bayer 04 loanee Francis Onyeka are part of Germany's final squad for the U19 European Championships this summer. The tournament is in Wales from 24 June to 12 July.
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When Malik Tillman arrived at Bayer 04 Leverkusen from PSV Eindhoven last summer, he did more than just add attacking midfield strength to the team — he reconnected the club with a unique and understated American lineage that stretches back more than three decades.
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Bayer 04 are away to third-division club SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal. That was the outcome of the draw on Saturday night, 6 June, at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. The Werkself first round tie will be played between 21 and 24 August. The exact date has yet to be finalised.
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