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 special afternoon at the Bayer 04 Football Academy autumn camp: At the Liga 20 indoor football centre, in the shadow of the BayArena, two Werkself women’s team players led a training session. Loreen Bender and Selina Ostermeier not only offered the young players advice and support, but also got stuck in themselves.
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Once the final whistle was blown, it was time to take a deep breath. 2-0 down and a 5–2 win in the end. It was a nerve-wracking affair against FC Nürnberg in the second round of the 2026–27 DFB Pokal. Jonas Hofmann said – “We didn’t let our heads drop” – hitting the nail on the head. Indeed, it was clear the Werkself were not prepared to accept elimination from the DFB Pokal. So they went on to score. The Black and Reds made their presence felt with a goal just before half-time, followed by four more in the second half. Or, to put it another way: Edmond Tapsoba’s first Bayer 04 brace, a clinical penalty from Patrik Schick, yet another precision strike from Hofmann and a blistering volley from Lucas Vázquez. Each goal more beautiful than the last! After the match, head coach Carles Martínez praised his team’s commitment above all else and the fact that they never lost belief in themselves. The Werkself review.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 5-2 win against 1. FC Nürnberg in the second round of the DFB-Pokal 2026/27...
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Bayer 04 came from 2-0 down to beat Nürnberg 5-2 in the second round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal on Wednesday night. Edmond Tapsoba’s double either side of half-time sparked the turnaround, before Patrik Schick, Jonas Hofmann and Lucas Vázquez ensured progress to the last 16 for the 2024 cup winners.
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