Following the defeat against the Russian club, Bayer 04 sporting managing director Rudi Völler admitted the situation in the group was much more difficult ahead of the flight to Italy. The Werkself are already under pressure to perform ahead of the clash with the Italian serial champions and team currently second in Serie A: “Now we have to produce an absolutely top performance away to the big favourites and try to get a result.”
Peter Bosz shares that assessment. ”We set out to win our home game against (Lokomotiv) Moscow. That didn’t work. Now we have to get the points from elsewhere. And tomorrow is the first chance,” said the Werkself head coach at the press conference before the away game at the ultra-modern Juventus Stadium (41,507 capacity) rebuilt eight years ago.
According to Bosz, a disciplined team performance is the primary requirement against the star-studded squad coached by Maurizio Sarri, who won the Europa League with Chelsea in May. That was also the view of Lukas Hradecky, who was sat next to the 55-year-old at the press conference: “We know we face a tough challenge tomorrow. We have to keep it tight at the back and leave as little space as possible for Ronaldo, Pjanic, Higuain and all the others.” The Werkself number one has no fear of the Champions League finalists of 2015 and 2017: “Our primary focus is for us to produce a good performance. And if we can do that then anything is possible.”
It is common knowledge Juventus are strong at home: The last time the Black and Whites lost a match in front of their own fans was back in April of this year: A 2-1 defeat in the quarter-final tie against Ajax that meant going out of Europe’s elite club competition. A look at the stats reveals: Juventus have never lost twice in succession at home in the Champions League. The Werkself could be the first to make that happen: The Turin team have lost three of their last six home games on the European stage – exactly as many as in the previous 65 European home games.
For this third meeting with the Old Lady, Peter Bosz is only missing Leon Bailey due to injury. Karim Bellarabi, who was sidelined for the Augsburg game, has recovered from a viral infection and was on the flight to Turin along with Joel Pohjanpalo who was back in the Werkself squad on Saturday for the first time in 599 days.
Today, Tuesday 16 December (live on B04eSports Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports players face the final three matches of the online preliminary round of Showdown Three in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In addition to 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 and SV 07 Elversberg, they will play Fortuna Düsseldorf, who are still unbeaten in this third showdown. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Whether it's the Lions Club, Teens, Bayer 04 Club or Silver Lions - there was a lot going on again this year in all age-specific members' clubs. We look back on an eventful year with numerous events and many exclusive moments with the Werkself. We take a look at what the year 2025 had to offer for the members of the Bayer 04 Club...
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Bayer 04 host 1. FC Köln at the BayArena in the final home game of 2025 . Today’s match on Saturday, 13 December kicks off at 18:30.30 pm. The Werkself are looking for three points against 1. FC Köln, who are without a win in four games but they do have a shooting star in their ranks up front. The Bayer 04 Volunteering Award will be presented at the derby against the club from Cologne and another fan club will be honoured for many years of loyalty under the Cross. The matchday news.
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The German Football Association (DFB) has officially recognised Bayer 04 as a women’s talent support centre. As announced by the DFB, 1 FC Köln, Union Berlin, RB Leipzig and Hamburger SV are also certified as performance or talent support centres from 1 January 2026 in addition to the Werkself.
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