Not just the stands will be full of fans tonight. There will be a bigger than usual attendance by journalists and media representatives: Hradecky, Havertz and Co. will be broadcast across the globe on 80 different TV stations. In addition, 77 print journalists and 74 photographers have accredited. Any fans unable to get a ticket can watch the game on the streaming service DAZN, follow the live text commentary at bayer04.de or tune into Werkself Radio.
Bayer 04 supporters can look forward to a real treat ahead of kick-off: There will be a pre-match show on the touchline from around 19.40 CET. Two honorary Werkself captains, Stefan Kießling and Carsten Ramelow will be there. The show will be on Bayer 04 TV, on our YouTube channel as well as our Facebook page.
A goal for the Werkself or the visitors will do tonight: The French referee Benoit Bastien has officiated three European games involving German teams to date – all ended in goalless draws: The clash between FC Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund in 2018, the Europa League play-off first leg match between RB Leipzig and Sorja Luhansk plus a 0-0 draw between Schalke and Galatasaray. The Werkself will be happy to break the cycle of stats with at least one goal against Juve.
When Pascal Ojigwe was 18 years old, FC Kaiserslautern signed the Nigerian from his home country in 1995 – and the midfielder then spent 11 years in Germany. Bayer 04 signed the former Nigeria international five years later. Ojigwe went on to be a runner-up with the Werkself in the Bundesliga, DFB Cup and the Champions League playing 55 games for the Black and Reds. Pascal today celebrates his 43rd birthday. Bayer 04 wish him many happy returns.
In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
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This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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