"The fact we're already qualified for the Round of 16 just provides further motivation," said the 49 year-old boss ahead of the last group match.
Both teams are unbeaten in the current Champions League campaign and already certain of their final position. "That means we can concentrate on playing good football," said Schmidt. He does not believe any of his players will fail to give 100 per cent due to the relative insignificance of the result of the match. Central defender Aleksandar Dragovic confirmed that at the pre-match press conference: "We're looking forward to the game even more as we have an account to settle with our opponents."
Clear mission
Monaco's Kamil Glick scored with the last shot of the match against the Werkself to secure a fortunate 1-1 draw when the two teams met in the Principality. "It was a speculative effort on a Tuesday night," recalled Dragovic as he explained his additional motivation: "We definitely want to pick up three points at home – also with one eye on the last three Bundesliga matches of the year."
Schmidt has had good and bad news on the injury front over the past few days. While Kevin Kampl, Admir Mehmedi and Kevin Volland are sidelined, Ömer Toprak and Jonathan Tah return as do Vladlen Yurchenko, Joel Pohjanpalo and Stefan Kießling. All are options for an appearance on Wednesday night. That also applies to the number two keeper Ramazan Özcan. "I'm thinking about making one or two changes – including in goal," said Schmidt.
Tickets still available
All the above named fit players took part in the final pre-match training session at the BayArena. Tickets are still available for anybody who want to see the final Werkself match in the Champions League ahead of Monday's Round of 16 draw. Ticket offices will be open on the night of the game.
A special afternoon at the Bayer 04 Football Academy autumn camp: At the Liga 20 indoor football centre, in the shadow of the BayArena, two Werkself women’s team players led a training session. Loreen Bender and Selina Ostermeier not only offered the young players advice and support, but also got stuck in themselves.
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Once the final whistle was blown, it was time to take a deep breath. 2-0 down and a 5–2 win in the end. It was a nerve-wracking affair against FC Nürnberg in the second round of the 2026–27 DFB Pokal. Jonas Hofmann said – “We didn’t let our heads drop” – hitting the nail on the head. Indeed, it was clear the Werkself were not prepared to accept elimination from the DFB Pokal. So they went on to score. The Black and Reds made their presence felt with a goal just before half-time, followed by four more in the second half. Or, to put it another way: Edmond Tapsoba’s first Bayer 04 brace, a clinical penalty from Patrik Schick, yet another precision strike from Hofmann and a blistering volley from Lucas Vázquez. Each goal more beautiful than the last! After the match, head coach Carles Martínez praised his team’s commitment above all else and the fact that they never lost belief in themselves. The Werkself review.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 5-2 win against 1. FC Nürnberg in the second round of the DFB-Pokal 2026/27...
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Bayer 04 came from 2-0 down to beat Nürnberg 5-2 in the second round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal on Wednesday night. Edmond Tapsoba’s double either side of half-time sparked the turnaround, before Patrik Schick, Jonas Hofmann and Lucas Vázquez ensured progress to the last 16 for the 2024 cup winners.
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