A first in the Champions League: Together with Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig plus Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt there are five German clubs in the Champions League for the first time. Bayer 04 are in Pot 3.
In addition, for the first time in 25 years UEFA are again allowing the sale of standing tickets for the matches in their international club competitions of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League as part of a pilot project in Germany, England and France.
As usual, 32 clubs will start the Champions League campaign in 2022/23 with eight groups of four teams. The make up of the groups is determined by all the teams being placed in four draw pots. Pot 1 has holders Real Madrid, the winners of the UEFA Europa league Eintracht Frankfurt and the champions from the sixth highest rated leagues who have not qualified by winning one of the titles in 2021/22. This year that is Manchester City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Ajax.
Pots 2 to 4 are determined by the club coefficient rankings. Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Sevilla and RB Leipzig are in Pot 2. Alongside Bayer 04 in Pot 3 are Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Napoli, FC Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting CP and Benfica. The clubs in Pot 4 are Club Brugge, Celtic, Marseille, Dinamo Zagreb, Rangers, FC Copenhagen,Viktoria Plzeň and Maccabi Haifa.
The draw for the group stage of the Champions League campaign of 2022/23 is being held today, Thursday 25 August, in Istanbul from 18.00 CEST. There will be live and free coverage to see which clubs the Werkself will face on TV at Sky Sports News as well as on the broadcaster's website.
The composition of the groups of four is drawn with one club from each pot. The Seoane team can look forward to playing one of the big teams in Europe through being placed in Pot 3. It is worth remembering that no team in the group stage can play another club from the same country. That means the Werkself will not play any of the other clubs from Germany's top flight in the group stage.
Champions League timetable:
The Werkself will host VfB Stuttgart at the BayArena on matchday 16 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The game is on Saturday, 10 January, at 18:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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The Werkself will host Werder Bremen at the BayArena on matchday 19 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The game is on Saturday, 24 January, at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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In the sixth and final match of the league phase of the UEFA Youth League 2025/26, the Bayer 04 U19s have a great opportunity to advance to the knockout phase of Europe’s most prestigious youth competition for the first time. To achieve that under their own steam, they will need a win against Newcastle United at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Wednesday, 10 December (kick-off: 14:00 CET/ free admission). In an interview with bayer04.de, managing director sport Simon Rolfes analyses the team's performances so far and their special situation. And the 43-year-old reveals what he would be happy to do without on the day of the match.
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The next opponents in the 2025/26 DFB Pokal have been announced: Bayer 04 will host Bundesliga rivals FC St. Pauli in the quarter-finals. That was the outcome of the draw held this Sunday evening, 7 December, at the German Football Museum in Dortmund, where long-time Bundesliga player and coach Friedhelm Funkel made the draw. The Werkself will play their quarter-final tie on 3-4 or 10-11 February 2026. The exact dates have yet to be finalised.
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After falling behind early on, Bayer 04 took control of the game against a combative and disciplined FC Augsburg on Saturday afternoon. However, they lacked the necessary precision in finishing and hit the post and crossbar three times. After the game, coach Kasper Hjulmand said he wanted to get back to the "right philosophy" of previous matches with three games left in 2025. The Werkself review.
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