“We’ll definitely face a highly motivated challenger in Sonnenhof Großaspach, which we’ll take very seriously. We want to start the season with a win. Our aspiration is to once again go very far in this competition,” said Simon Rolfes, managing director sport.
A total of 64 clubs are competing in this year’s DFB Pokal. Leverkusen were in one pot with last season’s Bundesliga teams and the top 14 sides from Bundesliga 2. The other pot contained the last four second division teams, the top four from the 3. Liga and the 24 regional representatives.
Großaspach are the winners of the Württemberg Cup and have just earned promotion to the fourth tier Regionalliga. The game will be the first competitive fixture in charge of the Werkself for Erik ten Hag.
The second round is set to be played on 28/29 October; the round of 16 is on 2/3 December; the quarter-finals on 3/4 and 10/11 February 2026; the semi-finals on 21/22 April. The final in Berlin will be on 23 May.
First-round draw in full:
Dynamo Dresden vs. Mainz
Arminia Bielefeld vs. Werder Bremen
Schweinfurt vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf
Wehen Wiesbaden vs. Bayern Munich
Sonnenhof Großaspach vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Saarbrücken vs. Magdeburg
Lokomotive Leipzig vs. Schalke
Bahlinger SC vs. Heidenheim
Hansa Rostock vs. Hoffenheim
Blau-Weiß Lohne vs. Greuther Fürth
Sandhausen vs. RB Leipzig
Energie Cottbus vs. Hannover
Homburg vs. Holstein Kiel
Jahn Regensburg vs. Köln
Preußen Münster vs. Hertha Berlin
Gütersloh vs. Union Berlin
Sportfreunde Lotte vs. Freiburg
BFC Dynamo vs. Bochum
Eintracht Norderstedt vs. St. Pauli
Lübeck vs. Darmstadt
Engers vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
Illertissen vs. Nürnberg
Meuselwitz vs. Karlsruhe
Eintracht Braunschweig vs. VfB Stuttgart
Rot-Weiß Essen vs. Borussia Dortmund
RSV Eintracht vs. Kaiserslautern
Viktoria Köln vs. Paderborn
Atlas Delmenhorst vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach
Hallescher FC vs. Augsburg
Pirmasens vs. Hamburg
Hemelingen vs. Wolfsburg
Ulm vs. Elversberg
This afternoon, Saturday 24 January (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayer 04 host SV Werder Bremen, who are winless in their last seven league games. Nevertheless, in their last outing, a 3-3 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, where they conceded a late equaliser, the Green and Whites did show their team spirit. The Werkself, led by birthday boy Patrik Schick, will be looking to counter this and secure their first three points of the new year on this ‘!Never Again’ remembrance matchday to commemorate the victims of National Socialism. Read on for the latest information in today's matchday news.
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Happy birthday, Patrik Schick! On his special day, it's not just the Czech striker who can look forward to lots of presents and hopefully many more goals – Bayer 04 fans can also get their hands on a free number 14 print when they buy a Werkself jersey today, January 24! In addition, a match-worn jersey belonging to the now 30-year-old will be raffled off among all purchasers next week.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-1 win at 1. FC Union Berlin on the 15th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Despite a severely depleted squad and being a player down, the Bayer 04 Women made a winning start to their 2026 campaign. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team won 2-1 at newly promoted FC Union Berlin on Friday night thanks to a last-minute goal. Vanessa Fudalla scored from a direct free-kick (78') and Kristin Kögel (90+2’) in stoppage time for the Werkself, who were reduced to ten players on 68 minutes, on an atmospheric stage at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. As a result, the Black and Reds are now fifth in the table for at least one night at the start of matchday 15.
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The Werkself are looking for the first win of the new calendar year: Ahead of the sold-out Bundesliga home match against SV Werder Bremen on Saturday, 24 January (kick-off: 15:30 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about taking chances, possible winter transfers and a “Lion" returning to the Leverkusen matchday squad.
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