"An away game at a second division club is a draw we can be happy with," said Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich on Sunday evening shortly after the draw. "However, FC Heidenheim are definitely not to be taken for granted at their own stadium so it will definitely be a challenge for us."
The draw at the German Football Museum in Dortmund was made by the blind footballer Serdal Celebi of FC St. Pauli. The former Germany international of blind football won the August Goal of the Month competition. His strike in the Germany championship final was the first goal of the month to be scored by a blind player. Germany Women's coach Horst Hrubesch was in charge of the draw.
Formed in 2007 as a breakaway from Heidenheimer Sportbund, FC Heidenheim have played in the second division since 2014. Last season, Heidenheim were also in the DFB Cup Round of 16 where they narrowly lost 2-1 to the eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt. Since 2007, the team has been coached by Frank Schmidt who used to play for FC Nürnberg Reserves, Alemannia Aachen and Waldhof Mannheim. "Coach Frank Schmidt has done a great job there for years. We will need to be fully focused at Heidenheim. But it is clear we want to go through to the next round," said Herrlich.
Bayer 04 and FC Heidenheim have never played each other before.
There are big games in the Round of of 16 with Bundesliga clashes of Hertha Berlin against Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund against Werder Bremen. The relegated Bundesliga founders Hamburg SV face FC Nürnberg.
Round of 16 draw in full:
Hamburg SV v FC Nürnberg
FC Heidenheim v Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Schalke 04 v Fortuna Düsseldorf
Holstein Kiel v FC Augsburg
Hertha Berlin v FC Bayern Munich
MSV Duisburg v SC Paderborn
Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen
RB Leipzig v VfL Wolfsburg
Freiburg’s defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend left them two places but a whole 10 points behind Bayer 04. Their results in general may be mixed, but Julian Schuster’s side are a force to be reckoned with at home, where they have earned 24 of their 33 points. Leverkusen may choose to look for the aerial route if they’re to get the better of their hosts, who have conceded more headed goals than any other team. Here’s all you need to know ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game in our matchday news.
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A boost for the second Bundesliga away game in a row: The Werkself take on SC Freiburg just three days after the convincing 1-0 win at Hamburger SV. Ahead of the game on Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the lessons learned from the rearranged fixture at HSV, a trio on yellow cards and young players like Christian Kofane and Montrell Culbreath.
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SC Freiburg suffered their eighth away defeat of the season in Frankfurt last weekend. But at home, at the Europa Park Stadion, coach Julian Schuster's team are clocking up one win after the next. SCF are unbeaten in the last 16 matches at home. On Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET), they will be looking to keep the run going in the clash with the Werkself. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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For the third time in a row, the Leverkusen eSports players have made it through to the final round of the VBL Club Championship. From 7 to 8 March, they will compete for the German Club Championship at XPERION in Hamburg. At the start of the final round, they face Hamburger SV in the Round of 16. The match starts at 19:30 CET on Saturday, 7 March and will be broadcast live on the VBL Twitch channel. The eSports preview.
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The German Football League (DFL) has scheduled Matchdays 28 to 30 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The fixtures at a glance.
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