After a break of three years, the Champions League anthem will soon ring out again across the BayArena. For the twelfth time in total – and for the sixth time in the past eight years. The Werkself will have to be patient for another couple of months before it all kicks off – and also until the draw of the group stages to be held in Monaco on 29 August. The first matchday is set for 17 and 18 September.
As in previous years, a total of 32 teams will take part in the group stage of Europe's premier club competition (with eight groups of four). The direct qualifiers are the Champions League winners plus the winners of the Europa League, the best four teams in Germany, England, Italy and Spain, the best two teams from France and Russia plus the national champions from Portugal, Ukraine, Belgium and Turkey. As the two finalists in this season's Champions League – Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool – are qualified for the group stage through a top four finish in the Premier League, the automatic qualification place for the winners of the final goes to the eleventh-placed national association (Austria) – that means the champions FC Salzburg in this case. Talking about Salzburg. Like the Austrians and Valencia, Bayer 04 will be in Pot three for the draw.
The ultimate line-up for next season's Champions League is not yet finalised. To this point, the following 23 clubs have qualified (as at 21 May 2019): Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Bayer 04 (all Germany), Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur (all England), Juventus, Napoli (both Italy), Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid, Valencia (all Spain), Paris St Germain, Lille (both France), Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russia), Benfica (Portugal), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), KRC Genk (Belgium), Galatasaray (Turkey) plus FC Salzburg (Austria).
In Italy, Bergamo, Inter Milan and AC Milan are fighting for the remaining two places in Italy from the final match day. In Russia the last direct qualification spot is between FK Krasnodar and Locomotive Moscow. If Arsenal win the Europa League then the London team would be the fifth English side in the Champions League. The remaining places will be decided in the qualifying rounds from the end of June.
The final will be played on 30 May 2020 – for the second time since 2005 – at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in the Turkish capital Istanbul (75,145 capacity).
Bayer 04 supporters can already secure tickets for Champions League home games. With a Bundesliga Plus season card. This option secures a seat for all Bayer 04 competitive games at the BayArena in the 2019/20 season, for the Bundesliga fixtures and additional games in the DFB Cup and the Champions League.
The VBL Club Championship by WOW 2025/26 continues today, Tuesday 18 November, with the last two of the six online preliminary round matches in the second showdown. Starting at 18:00 CET, Bayer 04 face Karlsruher SC, followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach at 19:00 CET. The games will be streamed live on the Bayer 04 app and on the club Twitch channel. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Just 11 days after their last encounter in the Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Women meet Hamburger SV again. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the two teams will be battling it out at the Volksparkstadion for a place in the DFB Cup quarter-finals. Coach Roberto Pätzold is aware of his team's status as favourites against the promoted outfit - and knows what it will come down to against the awkward opponents.
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Bayer 04 Women goalkeeper Charlotte Voll has been hit by injury again. The 26-year-old suffered an acromioclavicular joint separation in her left shoulder in the latter stages of the Bundesliga match at SC Freiburg on Monday and is set to be sidelined for a number of months. She underwent successful surgery in Düsseldorf on Friday.
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Like they did in the first showdown of the VBL Club Championship by WOW, which the Leverkusen gamers won in spectacular style, Marc and Sean Landwehr also started the second showdown with six points by beating TSG Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum 1848, last-16 participants of the first showdown. The #B04eSports team suffered defeat to SV Darmstadt 98 and Hertha BSC. Meanwhile, Keanu Senkbeil made his VBL CC debut in the clash with the capital club.
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The Bayer 04 Women will end 2025 with the Bundesliga top match against Bayern Munich on Monday night, 22 December. The schedule for matchdays 12 to 15 has been announced by the German Football Association (DFB). In addition to two away games on Fridays, Leverkusen also have a home game on a Saturday lunchtime.
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