The Round of 16 – That was the target for Bayer 04 at the start of the campaign and it could be achieved with a game to play. That will happen if the Werkself win at CSKA Moscow and Tottenham fail to pick up more than one point in the other group match at AS Monaco (20.45 CET). A draw would see head coach Roger Schmidt and his team go through to the knock-out rounds if Tottenham lose in Monaco. The simplest formula for this conundrum: One point more than Tottenham will do. The Werkself will only find out after landing at Cologne/Bonn Airport as the plane with the Bayer 04 squad on board will be on the way home when the match in Monaco finishes.
CSKA have to win
Of course, the initial focus is on the Bayer 04 display at the impressive CSKA Arena. And the match promises much in terms of excitement as the the Russian champions from the capital are fighting for survival in the Champions League and that means they definitely need to win. Otherwise, the team coached by Leonard Sluzki, with just two points from four games, will be out of the competition
Incredible record
There is the chance of setting one dismal record right. CSKA have not kept a clean sheet in an unbelievable 26 games in the Champions League and that is the longest such run since the competition was founded. The keeper and club stalwart Igor Akinfeev has not kept a clean sheet in 37 matches. Since 2006 he has conceded at least one goal in every match in Europe’s elite club competition.
Extend the club record
Bayer 04 have also set a record recently but a positive one. The Werkself have not lost any of their last six Champions League games – the longest run in eleven seasons in the competition for Leverkusen. Bayer 04 are also unbeaten after the opening four group matches for the first time and they are with a good chance of being in the competition in the new year.
Live info on the LIVE App
Anybody wanting to follow the game on the move due to the unusually early kick-off can download the Bayer 04 Live App. Ahead of the game, the latest information on the two teams such as the line-ups and formation is available as is the live ticker with all the key match information during the match – live from the CSKA Arena.
Download at: bit.ly/b04live
All the news from Moscow
Using the hashtag #CSKAB04 fans can follow all the information and stories on the Werkself trip to Moscow on the social media Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. It’s worth logging on before kick-off.
Group E table
1. AS Monaco (8 pts)
2. Bayer 04 (6 pts)
3. Tottenham (4 pts)
4.CSKA Moscow (2 pts)
Info for our supporters in Moscow: Bayer 04 have arranged for coaches to take Werkself fans from the CSKA Arena to the city centre after the game to enable them to continue their homeward journey from there safely. There will be a tour guide on every coach to provide travel information for onward journeys.
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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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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