"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.
There was a successful end to the women's internationals with Werkself players Carlotta Wamser and Cornelia Kramer qualifying for the 2027 World Cup finals in Brazil. A third Leverkusen player is still in with a chance of joining them. The Germany U23 players also experienced success in their last two international friendlies of the season.
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Traveling to North America for the World Cup this summer to see your favorite Bayer 04 players? Here’s a quick cheat sheet with thumbnail portraits and insider tips for each city from a local expert, so you can make the most of your visit and activities beyond the game!
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A fresh look for the BayArena: The Bayer 04 stadium will have new seating in the form of folding seats for the 2026/27 campaign that will ensure significantly improved seating comfort and simplified movement within the rows of seats. As part of routine replacement after 17 years, fans of the Werkself were able to purchase the existing seats, used to witness the first German league title in the club's history. In addition, a large proportion of the seats will be donated to charitable projects, primarily in the local region. Bayer 04 fans can look forward to new, functional folding seats for the season opener at the beginning of August - still in the club colours of black and red, of course. A glimpse at the BayArena during the refurbishment.
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On Monday evening, 8 June, around 250 people came to the Bürgerhaus Baumberg at the invitation of Bayer 04 to find out details of the new plans for the campus on Alfred-Nobel-Straße at an information event. More compact, greener and with many advantages for Monheim am Rhein - those are the aims. There were lively discussions for around three hours and some misunderstandings were cleared up.
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