"If possible, we want to take all three points in Mönchengladbach," said the Bayer 04 head coach at the pre-match press conference ahead of the game against the team lying in fifth place with a five-point advantage over his team. The fact that Borussia, with a worse goal difference (12-12), are seven places above the Werkself (15 – 13) rankles with the 45-year-old: "I saw them at home against Hannover three weeks ago. They could have ended up losing that game." He was referring to a shot from Hannover's Martin Harnick in the closing stages of the game that hit the bar and the penalty converted by Mönchengladbach in added time to give them a 2-1 win.
In terms of outcomes, Heiko Herrlich would gladly swap places with the Foals. "We have scored some comfortable victories but we've also unnecessarily dropped a few points," said our head coach. While the gap to Gladbach and the top end of the league would be eight points in the event of defeat, a victory for the Black and Reds would reduce the gap to just two points. The aim is therefore very clear: "We want to move up the table and obviously we need to win to achieve that."
All the better that Herrlich and his fellow coaches have almost a full squad available ahead of this tough challenge. This week saw the whole squad train together for the first time this term after the return from injury of Tin Jedvaj (shin) and Charles Aránguiz (calf). "Charles has come through the sessions very well. We'll wait until the final pre-match training session and then decide how we'll line up tomorrow. We're thinking about a number of options."
2,100 Werkself fans are expected to make the trip to the Borussia Park stadium.
Following the international break, the Bayer 04 women’s team face their next head-to-head clash in the race for a top spot in the Bundesliga. In Saturday’s home match (14:00 CEST), the fourth-placed side host third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Head coach Roberto Pätzold is well aware of the great opportunity this presents for his team.
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Bayer 04 make their first trip to Poland for over 30 years as they face Lech Poznan on Matchday 2 of the league phase in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off at 18:45 CEST on Thursday, but the team will be preparing for the action on Wednesday with training, travel and pre-match press conferences. We’ll bring you all the latest news here…
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Bayer 04 remain unbeaten in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. After winning the opener against NK Celje, the Werkself followed that up on Thursday night with a 4–0 win away at the Polish champions Lech Poznan. Patrik Schick, who came on as a substitute early in the game, scored twice from the penalty spot, and Malik Tillman also found the back of the net before half-time. The second half was a more subdued affair, with Ibrahim Maza scoring late on to seal the final 4-0 scoreline.
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Since 2023, Bayer 04 has been organising regular free goalkeeping coach training sessions at the BayArena. As in previous years, the event attracted enormous interest in mid-October 2026. Around 140 participants – mostly goalkeeping coaches from the region, but also team and academy coaches as well as association staff – came to the Werkself stadium to gain expert knowledge on the subject of zonal marking. Through a theoretical keynote presentation and a practical session on the pitch, the participants gained insights into goalkeeping and goalkeeper training at Bayer 04.
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